


Your Mess

by sylvix



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Oblivious Sylvain, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Felix, Rating May Change, awkward nerds, gay Felix, there's some other ships but I'll tag 'em when we get more of them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-09-06 14:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20293228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylvix/pseuds/sylvix
Summary: Sylvain's parents are tired of his skirt chasing so they swear to find a pretty girl for him by the time of their annual Christmas dinner. Not wanting to be forced into a permanent relationship just yet, he lies to them and says he already has a lover he'll bring to the dinner...now all Sylvain has to do is find the said lover within this month and Felix swears he only did it because Sylvain promised him to stop bringing women at their dorms...no other reason...at all...





	1. A small favor

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I've been wanting to write a fake dating au for them the second I saw their interactions and paired ending in the BL route so...here I go... 
> 
> Also pining Felix is my favorite thing ever so this is going to be a fun ride.
> 
> I'm my own beta reader but English is hard so if you'd like to pre-read just hmu on Tumblr!
> 
> Pointing out mistakes is 100% accepted <3
> 
> Ok let's get into this.

"Ingrid please!" The red head pleaded, giving the girl the best puppy eyes he could manage.   
  
The blonde rolled her eyes and shook her head, arms crossed, "Sylvain, just because you LIED to your parents that you had a significant other, that doesn't mean I'll pretend to be your girlfriend for a whole two weeks for Christmas break!" She sighed and then almost felt bad for her harsh words, "plus, my family and I are going to granny's house for Christmas break...you know...the one you flirted with?" Ingrid teased, earning a groan from the man sitting across from her.   
  
Three were currently sitting in Sylvain's dorm living room and the male was displeased with the situation he got himself into, "Will you ever forget about the grandma thing?" When he received a giggle and a shake of the head he slumped down the couch and looked at their paused Mario Kart game, "what am I supposed to do now? My family is expecting my beautiful lover with 'luscious hair' and 'beautiful eyes' to show up at their house on Christmas with me and I've asked about as many girls as I could." Sylvain was now pouting, looking down at his still controller.   
  
Dimitri, who had been quiet and listening to the situation tapped his chin in thought, "Perhaps you should just tell them the truth, Sylvai-"   
  
"Absolutely not." The flirt deadpanned. When his two friends became poker faced, he proceeded to explain, "they're tired of my flirting...I don't want them to keep thinking that's all I'm good at...if even that. You see, they said if I don't stop my flirting they're bringing a girl for me to meet with at that same dinner...and I just don't think love should work like that, right? Shouldn't I be able to choose who to love? Not marry some woman who's only after my status?" His face and tone became more serious and bitter, which was unusual from his cheerful smile and that upbeat tone he used.   
  
Rubbing his temple, Dimitri looked at Ingrid, who simply looked back at him with a pitying smile. They weren't used to Sylvain talking like this, so this Saturday night was definitely not going how they planned it to go. "Look, Sylvie, I love you to death, but it's not like your future fake girlfriend is going to show up at your door right this mome-"    
  
Ingrid was cut off by the door opening, revealing Sylvain's roommate, Felix. All eyes turned to Felix, which caused the raven haired boy to freeze and look at them with a threatening gaze, "Is there something on my face or did you all shit talk me while I was gone? Cause I've got a lot to say back," he frowned. Suddenly, the sitting trio all looked at each other.    
  
Sylvain had the most dead serious face as he looked at his friends. Dimitri prayed to whatever god was out there that Sylvain was not about to do what he thought he would do. Ingrid simply stared at Sylvain and asked, "did you ever specify the gender of your lover to your parents?" When she received a shake of the head, she motioned to Dimitri to get the fuck up cause they were NOT about to witness their friend's death.   
  
Getting the hint, Dimitri stood up first, "You know...Claude really needs me to uh...provide moral support for his upcoming exam so... I'll be going," he smiled and waved at Felix before dashing out.    
  
Ingrid stood up right after and smiled, "Claude's probably horny and needs Dimitri right now but since I'm a real friend I'll say that I'm leaving because uh...Ashe...yeah," she ran out, not even greeting Felix.   
  
The redhead watched them exit in utter betrayal and nervously fidgeted on the couch, gulping as he took upon Felix's face of complete confusion, "I'm not even going to ask why the hell they ran off like that..." he then made eye contact with Sylvain, who instantly tensed up as Felix removed his shoes and approached him slowly, plopping on the spot next to him and draping his arms on the upper part of the couch, "however...did I do something?" His face was blank as he stared at Sylvain, now closer and being able to see how nervous he really was.   
  
"Felix," the other started slowly, criss crossing his legs and looking at his roommate, who was now listening closely, eyes edging him to go on with his talking. "Well...haha you see...er...um..."   
  
"Just get on with it or else I'm going to go shower and then sleep and I'll forget to ask you about it tomorrow 'cause I won't care enough or won't remember," Felix spat, already setting his foot on the ground, only to be held back by Sylvain's hand over his, which simply shocked him and caused him to harbor a small flush on his pale face.   
  
Sylvain took a deep breath and held his friend's hand, "Felix Hugo Fraldarius... will you be my fake boyfriend for two weeks during Christmas break when I go to my parents' house 'cause I kinda lied that I had a significant other so they wouldn't arrange me in some weird relationship with some random woman like the medieval times and like I know it's out of nowhere and that it's stupid but I kinda lie- wait I already said that...anyway I really need someone to do this and I've already asked so many girls but none would do it and I ju-" the red head was rambling...very very fast and with no pause...so Felix smacked his head to stop him from talking for a second. The flirt groaned in pain as his friend didn't hold back on that smack, rubbing his head, he looked at Felix.   
  
The usual death glare was on his face as he opened his mouth, "what the ACTUAL fuck, Sylvain? You got your ass in a sticky situation and now you're coming to me as your last resort to be your damn fake 'boyfriend' because you can't tell your damn family that you don't want to marry some random ass woman and are too fucking stupid to stop that playboy act of yours?" When Felix noticed Sylvain's face of defeat he paused his venomous tongue and frowned, sighing. "Why don't you just tell them you broke up with your girlfriend right before the dinner? Or I don't know...say you lied and just decline their offer of an arranged meeting with someone?" Felix pinched the bridge of his nose, not enjoying the fact that he had to do so much talking right now...and giving advice of all things.   
  
Sylvain made his very effective puppy eyes to Felix as he spoke, "I can't do that Felix...they expect me to drop my flirting...to settle with some woman who's probably only after my money to begin with. They want me to be a son they're proud of...someone like Miklan...yet I've constantly failed them and can't even prove to them that there's someone out there that loves me." The red head spoke, voice unusually sulky and eyes blank with sadness. "Please, Felix...just for those two weeks...I promise no more than that...I'll tell them we broke up right after cause our opposite personalities clashed too often and..." he paused as he thought of a fair deal to propose, "I won't ever bring another woman in our dorms again, I promise...and I'll leave you alone when you have to study for exams." He finished, really hoping this would get Felix to agree.   
  
The boy with the golden brown eyes looked at his 'friend' in disbelief as he already regret the next words that came out of his mouth, "fine," he glared at Sylvain, who was already radiating with imaginary sparkles around him and his own golden eyes were instantly ten times brighter. Felix could've swore he also saw a tail wagging behind him, "however, Sylvain, I expect you to follow those promises through...cause if not..." Felix smirked slightly before his face returned to how it was, "let's just say I'm not afraid of prison."   
  
Sylvain nodded repeatedly as he couldn't help himself but tackle Felix down on the couch, hugging him tightly as he continuously rubbed his cheek all over the other's. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!! Felix...did I ever tell you that I love you? That I would die for you?" He smiled as he raised his head a bit and stared into Felix's dumbfounded face, noting how red it was getting...oh...perhaps out of anger from their proximity. Before Felix could yell, Sylvain instantly stood off the couch and turned off Mario Kart, getting tired of listening to the constant loop of dolphino plaza. Noticing that his friend was still silent, he smiled apologetically and walked towards the small hallway to the bathroom, having to take his own shower. Before he entered the hall, he placed a hand on the wall and turned to Felix, "hey...seriously...thank you so much..." he smiled sincerely and then smirked a bit, "we'll have to get you used to PDA by the way...I'm a very touchy boyfriend.~" he laughed softly, walking in the bathroom.   
  
Felix, who was now blushing to his ears sat up and sighed shakily, staring at the blank TV and slowly grasping his heart, hearing it beat loudly as he remembered how close their faces had been. Frowning as he felt his face heat up more, he facepalmed and threw his head back in a groan,  _ 'what convinced you to agree, again?' _ He thought to himself, closing his eyes as he heard the shower water running, mentally preparing for the longest two weeks of his damned life.

\---

When Sylvain stepped inside the shower, he closed his eyes as the water poured over him. He was thinking about his roommates flushed face and how cute it was from close up…well...not that he would  _ ever _ describe Felix as cute, but the boy was pure and innocent. It was also worthy of him to note that he indeed had luscious hair and beautiful eyes, so that was a plus on his behalf. He shook his head and chuckled to himself.  _ ‘Look at yourself Sylvain...showering your fake boyfriend with compliments.’  _ He pondered to himself, sitting under the shower for a little while, just letting the water drip on him. 

Well...now that he was into this mess, he had to think of how he could prepare Felix for those two weeks. First, he had to teach him all his family members and show him pictures just to be sure. Who was going to be there again? His two aunts with their respective husbands and children...hmmm...a lot more people than Felix would enjoy being around. Sylvain laughed slightly as he thought of Felix, of all people, interacting with his  _ very  _ talkative family members. He then thought of Felix and his sharp tongue...something they definitely had to work on this month because Miklan will absolutely have  _ none _ of that. 

Second, they had to work on the awkward nature of Felix. He needs to keep up at least  _ some _ conversation with his family during his time there...and his mother needed to be convinced that they were dating, so PDA was something he’d also need to get Felix to accept.

And finally...they needed their little love story…  _ ‘Hmmm...we met during our freshman year, mom  _ ** _and we were roommates_ ** _ ! He was a shy little thing and refused to talk to me! However, my beautiful charms worked on him and now, on our sophomore year of college, I realized that he meant a lot more to me than any of those silly women did.’  _ He recited to himself in his head, the smile suddenly leaving his face…he hoped this wouldn't hurt Felix in any way. He knows the male almost hates him...yet playing with someone like this was wrong no matter what.  _ ‘Don't overthink it, Sylvain...it'll be over before you even know it yourself.’  _ He then sighed, realizing that the shower water was starting to slightly change in temperature the more he stayed there and Felix definitely did not want to shower in cold water.

As much as he'd love to hear Felix’s little yelp as the cold water hit his back, he decided his friend deserved better than that after agreeing to getting involved into his mess...and the death threats would most definitely  _ not  _ be worth it. Quickly washing his hair and body, he took a long breath, letting it out only when he was ready to accept the challenge of ‘dating’ Felix Hugo Fraldarius.

  
  
  



	2. Door to your heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sylvain educates Felix on the basics of his family and they start to open up to each other. Not that Felix is pleased, but in order to go through with this he knew he had to listen and reciprocate his time as well...yet...are they getting closer or just further apart?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Making up random family names was hard ngl...if anything is too stereotypical for anyone who's from Cuba or France etc. please let me know. I know how stereotypes can be kinda annoying.
> 
> But after hours of cliché love songs and revising this chapter hundreds of times...here it is!!

To say that Sylvain expected Felix to be the most loving and supportive fake boyfriend ever would be lie. However, what he didn't expect is Felix avoiding him the whole day...so as he was sitting in the Starbucks on their campus with Dimitri, Claude, and Ingrid, ranting, the three gave him questioning glances.

"You're telling me that your roommate actually agreed to fake date you and now you're complaining that he's _ not _ spending every breathing moment of his life with you? 'Cause that sounds kinda…" Claude chimed in, arm draped over Dimitri's shoulder. The blonde boy shushed him and smiled innocently to Sylvain.

“Claude’s right. I’m sure Felix needs some space to er...wrap his thoughts around the idea that you two are a thing,” Dimitri continued to smile, leaning against Claude softly who was now cooing at the male for agreeing with him.

“A _ fake _ thing, might I remind you! Sylvain, are you considering how _ he _ might feel about this whole thing? What if he’s already into someone else and this might ruin his chances? Or what if he doesn’t like men?!” Ingrid placed her hands on the table, a bit too loud since the worker gave her a slight glance. The blonde girl gave a sheepish smile and quieted down, sitting down and waiting for Sylvain to speak.

“Relax! First of all, I’m _ not _ clingy if that’s what you two are implying,” Sylvain started off, only pausing to take a small sip from his French vanilla coffee before continuing, “and second of all, Ingrid, I _ am _ taking his feelings into consideration! I made a fair deal with him in return. Didn't I already tell you that? As for the men part...it’s none of my business, but Felix doesn’t even seem into anything except for the gym to be honest." The redhead sighed, twirling the drink in his hand as he sulked slightly.

"Then what's bothering you, my dear friend?" Dimitri asked sweetly, edging his drink towards Claude who seemed to be wanting to get a taste. 

Sylvain rolled his eyes at the couple and frowned, "I'm just hoping to at least be able to teach him some things about my family before he has to pretend to be my boyfriend! Or I don't know...get him used to how I'd be if we were actually dating?" The male questioned, his frown depending once he noticed his drink was finished.

Ingrid, the only logical out of the group (Dimitri and Claude being too busy in their own little world), sighed and stood up, taking her books and drink, "I still think this is a bad idea," she turned to Sylvain and gave him a pitying smile, "but if he's okay with it and you're willing to go through, then I wish you the best. I'm going to go study...so farewell, Sylvain, and you two." She grinned at the lovebirds. 

Sylvain looked a little lost as he nodded and waved at her, while Claude and Dimitri smiled and wished her luck on her studies. 

Once Ingrid was out, Sylvain's head fell to the table and he let out the longest sigh of the entire day. Dimitri was frowning at him and placed a gentle hand upon his friend’s messy, yet somehow still styled, hair, patting the spot softly. 

Claude was chuckling at the sulking boy and finally spoke up after a while, “Sylvain have you perhaps tried talking about _ his _ interests? Or… spend quality time with him but _ his _ way? As you also talk your whole little mischievous plan out?” the tan male smirked, earning a facepalm from his boyfriend who hoped that Sylvain was not stupid enough to listen to Cl-

“Claude! That’s so fucking smart!” Sylvain burst from his seat in excitement; all hope in Dimitri’s eyes now gone. Claude proudly patted his own back with his free hand and watched as the excited Sylvain was now dashing out of the Starbucks, his empty cup sitting on top of the table.

“He’s hopeless,” Dimitri smiled sheepishly, looking over at Claude who looked slightly offended for some reason, free hand now dramatically placed over his chest.

“Are you telling me that _ my _ genius advice is not going to work? My cheese prince, you wound me,” Claude looked away in exasperation, earning a roll of the eyes from Dimitri, who now placed a chaste kiss upon Claude’s cheek, shaking his head at the nickname.

“I’m not saying you’re not helping! I’m just saying that...well... when was the last time that your love advice was actually followed thoroughly without you having some tricky scheme planned behind it?” the blue eyed male questioned, looking up at Claude a small yet tender smile.

“Um, excuuuuuse me, but my lovely charms and little schemes clearly worked on _ someone _ over here so...I’m pretty sure Sylvain is fine,” Claude pouted and at that, Dimitri sighed in defeat, standing up and motioning for Claude to do the same.

“Come on, handsome. You’ve got a lot of work to do for those finals coming up in December,” Dimitri smiled, already heading towards the exit, Claude gathering his belongings and following him like a puppy.

“You know...you’ve got a way with words. Who knew that uptight little 10th grader would get me so riled up in the near fu-” Dimitri turned and glared at him, no real threat behind his gaze as he flicked his forehead, “Yeah yeah, your princeliness, I’ll shut up...only if I get a reward after our study session,” the green eyed boy winked, causing Dimitri to flush just a little as he quickly stepped out of the starbucks...and no answer was better than a ‘no’ for Claude, so he followed after him silently, knowing that he’d won him over anyway.

\---

Sylvain looked _ everywhere _for Felix...well...with a few detours and some distractions by some pretty ladies around the campus. Aside from that, he looked everywhere were the grumpy male was usually found, such as the gym, library, or even underneath some stairwells. Sighing in defeat, he made some pitiful excuse from the group of ladies he was currently talking to, and simply walked until his reached his dorm. Upon entering, he found Felix sitting on the couch with his legs crossed and a laptop placed on his lap. The male was wearing headphones, so he didn’t hear Sylvain coming in. Smiling in delight, Sylvain removed his shoes and strutted over to the raven boy, plopping next to him and draping an arm over his shoulder, “So this is where our princess has been hiding hm?” he smirked.

Felix had flinched from the initial contact and paused his music, sighing as he removed his headphones and elbowed Sylvain’s arm off of him, “What do you want?” he asked, clear boredom and annoyance in his voice as he looked at the other with a dull expression.

“Well, let me just give you a hint, _ babe _ ,” another flinch by Felix as Sylvain continued, “We have one week until finals and two weeks to prepare for our little um, plan to take action. So perhaps I’m just trying to get to know my _ boyfriend _ a bit.” he finished, with the third and final flinch from Felix before he spoke up,

“First of, don’t start with the pet names unless they’re completely necessary, which right now, they really aren’t.” he glared, heart tightening slightly for some reason, “and while I’d _ love _ to spend time with my _ favorite _ person in the world, I _ really _ would rather study for at least this week ‘cause that’s more important than your stupid fake rel-” Felix sighed in frustration and bit back on more harsh words, eyes meeting with Sylvain’s slightly off ones. Facepalming in his head, he simply shut up and waited for Sylvain to speak up.

When he didn’t for about 2 minutes, Felix was suddenly feeling guilt washing over him. _ ‘For what, you moron? It’s not like he cares that you don’t care about his fake relationship...so then, why is he looking at me with those eyes…’ _ not being able to handle the awkward silence any longer, Felix turned back to his laptop and continued to study over his essay, making any last minute corrections he could find. 

It was all going so well until he felt a slight weight on his shoulder, and this time it wasn’t Sylvain’s arm but his head. The red, messy locks were tickling his neck, and Felix held his breath for a moment at the sensation, his fingers halting the typing movement. Neither of them spoke for another long while, which felt much longer for Felix, who’s breath was coming out slightly trembly. Before Felix could make any comment or tell Sylvain to fuck off, the flirt’s silky voice broke through the silence,

“You know, Felix…” he started off, nuzzling his face against the other’s shoulder as he spoke, causing Felix to still like a statue. “I appreciate that you agreed to do this with me but...if it’s not comfortable for you then I’ll find someone else. It probably won’t be someone I trust as much as you, or someone I can tell everything to, but the last thing I would want is for my roommate, whom I sweated my life away to get him to like me, to suddenly hate me again. For some reason... I can handle anyone shutting me down except for you…” Sylvain spoke truthfully, which was so _ unfair _ to Felix because his heart was racing as he listened to the other’s words of self-doubt. “I’m used to being a disappointment, but please, _ please _, don’t look down on me because... I can’t hide from your piercing gaze.”

This was the first time in his life, (of knowing this absolute moron) where Felix thought Sylvain looked _ small, _so small and fragile that if he moved his shoulder, the other would break at the loss of some sort of comforting contact. Gulping quite audibly, Felix reached a hesitant hand to Sylvain’s hair and ran gentle fingers through the red locks, “Hey, moron,” he whispered, no real venom behind his words, voice too quiet and shy to have any threat to it. “Do I ever back up on anything? Am I known as someone to give up, easily?” he questioned, hand still running softly through Sylvain’s hair (and at this point he didn’t even realize he was doing it himself).

When the other shook his head, Felix continued to speak, voice barely audible if it weren’t for how focused Sylvain was on listening to the other, “then stop thinking you’ll disappoint me as if I’m your actual little courtmanship victim. I know that behind your stupid playboy mask, you have kindess, insecurities, and a real heart. So stop saying shit like ‘_ Felix don’t shut me down’ _ because trust me, I would’ve done so a _ long _ time ago and you wouldn’t be my roommate.” the younger mumbled the last sentence, closing the laptop with his free hand and only moving slightly to set it on the coffee table. “So pull yourself together and...a-and,” Felix flushed and looked away, moving on the far end of the couch stubbornly.

Sylvain, who was completely shocked and somewhat _ mesmerized _ by the other’s speech, let out a wholehearted laugh as he watched how Felix scurred to the corner of the couch like a cat. He continued to laugh for a bit before giving the raven a tender and genuine smile, “what is it? You didn’t finish your speech there,” the redhead inched closer and tilted his head, hair gently swaying with the movement.

“Fuck off, you look cheerful enough so it doesn’t matter,” if Felix were a cat, he would be hising and clawing at Sylvain right now, but all he did as Sylvain moved closer is bring his foot between them and gently shove Sylvain away with it, shooing him away his one of his hands as well for good measure.

Angelic laughter filled the dorms as Sylvain ignored him and used his size advantage to tower over Felix and capture him in a bear-like hug, causing the other to inhale sharply and flush to his ears. “Seriously ‘Lix, I...thank you,” he hid his face in Felix’s shoulder as he murmured his words of gratitude, only making the younger’s heart have way too many jumps and skips and Felix swore to himself that he was dying.

“Shut up. Get off me,” Felix mumbled, quickly panicking as he realized he was probably blushing too hard so he quickly clung to Sylvain’s back ‘cause if the other pulled away and saw his face he would be teased mercile- 

A light snore.

Felix’s breath hitched as he tilted his slightly to get a look at Sylvain’s face, who was now sound asleep on top of him, using his shoulder as a pillow. 

If it weren’t for the fact that Felix’s body was going completely numb, he would, maybe... _ just maybe _ , enjoy the warmth of the other’s body for longer. But Sylvain was heavy, and his own body protested against the idea. Sighing softly, he moved very slowly, making sure Sylvain wasn’t going to wake up from this. _ ‘You pig, why are you so heavy?’ _ he thought to himself, finally setting free from the prison known as Sylvain’s embrace. Looking down at the sleeping man, he shook his head and walked inside Sylvain’s room. He flushed a bit in embarrassment, but he grabbed the redhead’s pillow and blanket before walking out again.

Walking back to the couch, he draped the blanket over Sylvain and tried to raise the other’s head a bit to put the pillow underneath it. Felix’s hand lingered on Sylvain’s cheek for bit even after the pillow was already placed. He moved his thumb in soothing circles and stared at the other’s handsome (even when drooling a bit) sleeping features. His face took about five different shades of red as he quickly, but carefully, moved his hand away, gulping. Felix took his laptop and ran inside his room, shutting the door and leaning against it, head slamming backwards as he groaned.

Hopeless. That’s what he was.

\---

The next morning Sylvain woke up in a sudden gasp. His eyes scanned the room that clearly wasn’t his...but still familiar. Rubbing his eyes, he blinked the sleepiness away before realizing he was in the living room of his shared dorm. Yawning, he sat up and looked at his lap, recognizing his blanket and also the pillow that was now clutched against his chest like a teddy bear. 

“You’re finally awake, you sleepyhead,” Sylvain heard the familiar scruffy voice of his roommate, who peaked his head from the kitchen and leaned against the wall with a cup of hot chocolate in his hands.

“Ah...shit. Thank you for caring enough to cover me up. If I caught a cold right before finals, Ingrid wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.” Sylvain rubbed the back of his head thankfully, smiling at Felix sheepishly. The man simply stared down at him with his usual resting grumpy face. 

“Whatever…” Sylvain noticed a slight hesitation in the other’s voice as he made his way towards him. Before he knew it, the cup in Felix’s hand was now in front of his face, “Here.” he mumbled, looking away from Sylvain and avoiding eye contact as Sylvain was staring at the cup, frozen.

“Is this for real?” He laughed and looked up at Felix, whose pale cheeks were harboring a small tint of pink. _ ‘How endearing.’ _he thought to himself as he was studying the other’s face.

“Do you want it or not? ‘Cause I’ll happily drink another cup,” Felix then made eye contact with him and glared. Sylvain’s groggy and sleepy laughter shook him to the core as the redhead wrapped a hand around the cup, fingerprints brushing against Felix’s own, before he took the cup and held it in front of him with both hands. 

Felix swore he was not going to make it until Christmas.

“Thank you, _ darling _,” Sylvain winked, causing Felix to heat up, slightly from anger if he was really honest with himself. “I jest, I jest, don’t go looking like you’re going to kill me,” Sylvain quickly defended, taking a sip of the hot chocolate and sighing in delight as the warmth hit his stomach. 

“Sylvain,” the sudden call of his name brought his attention to Felix, who sat at the end of the couch and looked at him. The raven was playing with his hands on his lap, clearly nervous about something, which only made Sylvain nervous too. He took another quick sip and waited for Felix to speak up. “Last night… before, um, you fell asleep...do you remember the thing I told you?” he spoke carefully and quietly, which Sylvain didn’t mind, he was carefully listening.

“Something about never shutting me down and that you’re my roommate for a reason?” he questioned, tilting his head like a puppy before suddenly remembering the last thing Felix wanted to say before he cut himself off, “OH! You mean,” Sylvain grinned and made his best impersonation of Felix’s nervous voice from last night, “_ So pull yourself together and… a-and…You’re so handsome Sylvain ahhh!! _’ he finished dramatically, earning a hit to the head, “Ow!” he pouted, looking at Felix’s frustrated face.

“Shut up, moron, before I change my mind,” he frowned, glaring at Sylvain who shut his mouth, only opening it to take sips from the hot chocolate. “I admit that I was a bit embarrassed to say this last night but… I figured that instead of avoiding you… well,” he paused and inhaled. Would he regret this? Oh most definitely. But did he agree to it himself? Also yes. “Just...I think I wouldn’t mind spending more time with you is that I’m trying to say. You could introduce me to your family and… t-teach me how to be friendlier.” he huffed out, eyes avoiding contact with the other as much as possible.

Sylvain smiled widely and decided to be kind with his next comment instead of just teasing him (as hard as it was _ not _ to), “You’re being serious right? Wouldn’t you rather, I don’t know, study?” he questioned, looking at the male at the end of the couch for confirmation. When Felix didn’t say anything except for furrow his eyebrows and shake his head, Sylvain smiled. “Okay okay, I’m gonna run to the shower before you change your mind.” and as he said that, he ran off, setting the cup on the table.

Felix took note that the cup was already somehow empty. He sighed and stood up as well, picking up the cup and setting it in the sink before he sat on the couch and waited for Sylvain to get out of the shower.

\--- 

“This is my mother, Teressa Marie Gautier, a wonderful woman really,” he bragged showing Felix a picture of his mother on his phone. It was a picture he had taken of her when he was younger. She wasn’t paying attention and was watering the flowers with a smile upon her face. Felix admired her beautiful features for a moment, seeing that Sylvain had gotten his gentle eyes and the color of his hair from her. Sylvain’s nose was also shaped like his mother’s and Felix swore there were hints of freckles on her cheeks just like Sylvain...not that Felix noticed or anything.

“She’s beautiful,” Felix spoke truthfully, earning a smile from Sylvain, before he teased, “Do I really need to know the full names of your entire lineage? You sound like I’m getting married into your family,” he smirked, watching as Sylvain giggled and tried to hide a small flush of his cheeks. _ Cute _.

“Well, Mr. Fraldarius, to my family, it has to be convincing that, who knows, perhaps you might in the future.” He grinned before scrolling to the next picture. A man with dark brown hair, hovering one arm over someone with similar hair color to Sylvain and the other hand was ruffling what looked like a younger Sylvain’s hair. 

“Hah! Is that you when you were younger?” Felix pointed to the boy who he assumed was Sylvain, “Your hair looks like a bird’s nest! And oh...you look so mad,” he grinned, trying to prevent himself from laughing.

“Hey! I was _ cute _,” he pouted and then looked at Felix, enjoying seeing the other smile, “but yes...that is me… Sylvain Jose Gautier, the man who stole the world’s heart,” he bragged, earning a glare from Felix. “That’s...my brother, Miklan, and my father is the one behind us.” Sylvain looked a bit off as he mentioned his father, but Felix knew better than to comment on it so he waited for his introduction, “His name is...Seth Jean Gautier,” Sylvain’s sulky mood quickly changed and he put on a fake smile, looking at Felix, “he’s a bit of a prick so don’t get on his wrong side!” He pointed, booping Felix’s nose who only scrunched it and looked away, earning a giggle from the other. 

“As if I’m not going to get on the wrong side of anyone related to _ you, _ ” he rolled his eyes, sighing as he felt a dwell of insecurities rise up. He wasn’t the most _ social _ person and he knew that...if Sylvain’s family was anything like him, then they’d all be precious social butterflies. So to say the least, Felix suddenly felt anxious.

“Hey, what’re you making that distressed face for,” Sylvain said in a soft tone, poking the furrow between Felix’s eyebrows this time, “you look more like grumpy cat everyday, you know that?” when he received a glare from Felix, he rose his hands defensively, “hey I never said grumpy cat wasn’t cute,” he grinned, only to have Felix glare more. “Lix, don’t be so stressed okay? You can always back out on me and I won’t be mad...just don’t force yourself to change.” Sylvain gave him a genuine smile.

Felix sighed...it was times like these where he realized why he...could tolerate Sylvain so much. The other enjoyed his company no matter how unattentive to a conversation he was or how much he didn’t enjoy talking. He knew he was a hard person to approach and that didn’t stop Sylvain...so times like these he always appreciated the redhead, which it why he couldn’t back down on him. _ ‘He’s done so much and I’ve done so little.’ _He found himself thinking, finally speaking up to Sylvain, “shut up I’m not forcing myself. Two weeks with you and your family is better than having to deal with your one night stands and having you pester me when I study.” Felix tried to give Sylvain a small smile of reassurance, “now shut up and talk to me about your family,” he mumbled.

Sylvain smiled and edged closer to Felix, mouth opening as he started to talk about everyone else Felix might come to meet. 

At times, Felix caught himself staring at Sylvain’s face while he talked...his auburn eyes gleaming with a blinding brightness and the slight freckles visible only if you were really close to him. Sighing, he tried to focus on the conversation at hand, mind forcing him to stop looking at the man in front of him.

\---

What Felix learned was that Sylvain’s father had two sisters: Madam Chloe von Tinsdale, who married an American man who goes by George Tinsdale, and Madam Bella Pérez, who married a Cuban man named Julio Pérez. Each of the women had two children who Sylvain had never met because they were young and the last time he saw his aunts was many Christmases ago. They only decided to come to this one since Sylvain was to introduce his lover, which only made Felix more nervous.

According to the said information, both women were very chatty and were not afraid to flaunt their riches with expensive clothing, jewelry, or gifts that they would bring from their respective countries that they moved in. As Felix sat through his last final exam, he scoffed at the idea of rich people. He was aware that he came from a rich family himself...but not like he enjoyed it nonetheless. 

Once their proctor instructed that time was up, Felix pressed the ‘finish’ button on his exam and logged out of his account. He stood up and walked outside of the classroom, listening to the idle chatter of students asking each other how they did or how well they think they did themselves.

None of these conversations mattered to him as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans before walking outside to the main campus. 

Sylvain had made plans for them to go on a small walk as they talked and tried to get Felix to be more ‘social’. 

“Felix!” speaking of the devil. Felix looked up from his phone to notice Sylvain in the front gate, waving his arms frantically. The male was wearing a light brown coat and black skinny jeans shivering slightly as the weather got colder. 

Felix was just wearing a black hoodie with jeans, hair in the usual messy bun as he walked towards Sylvain, his soft breathing making small clouds from the cold.

“Heyyy, how do you think those finals went? I haven’t spoken to you for five days because your head refused to get out of the textbooks!” Sylvain smiled already starting to walk off, Felix walking beside him. For some reason, hearing Sylvain ask him about finals didn’t feel as irksome as hearing others do the same.

“Fine. What about you?” Felix asked back, hiding his neck like a turtle as a sudden chilly wind brushed against his face.

“Good enough to get by or as I like to say, ‘good enough to not disappoint my parents,” Sylvain smiled, nose slightly red from the cold. He must’ve been waiting out here for a little while. 

The last of the leaves were falling from the trees, and the days were getting much shorter. The two walked side by side, with Sylvain greeting people as they passed by them. When standing next to him like this, Felix felt significantly smaller. Not _ his _ fault he wasn’t a giant. He would occasionally glance up at Sylvain through the silence; the man was staring at the road ahead, that permanent smile always plastered upon his lips. Felix almost felt envious sometimes. Smiling must make one's appearance seem a lot friendlier than the frown that was always on Felix’s face.

“You’re making that face again,” Sylvain suddenly spoke, smiling down at Felix, “what’s on your mind this time?” he questioned, kicking a small pebble off to the side.

Felix debated on his answer ‘cause he felt embarrassed; deciding to answer truthfully. “How do you manage to always have a smile on your face? Doesn’t it tire you?” he asked truthfully, genuinely curious.

Sylvain giggled and looked at him, that smile still there, “you’re so pure when you ask things like these,” he sighed and decided to answer before Felix got mad, “I just...think I’m more approachable to the ladies if I’m always smiling.” he grinned, earning a roll of the eyes from Felix. _ I have to smile so people don’t hate me. _ Was the unspeakable reason. _ I have to smile so they’re not disappointed in me. _

“Right. It’s always the ladies, huh.” Felix sighed, not knowing what answer he honestly expected from Sylvain.

Realizing that something must’ve triggered Felix, he remembered Claude’s advice from Starbucks that day. _ ‘You have to ask about his interests.’ _ echoed Claude’s cheery voice through his brain, and he quickly realized that Felix never talked about himself...or his family. “Lix, pardon me if I shouldn’t be asking but... how come you _ don’t _ smile?” he said softly, tilting his head as a sour expression took Felix’s face. _ ‘Ah, not good _ . _ ’ _

“I don’t have a reason to smile. Unlike you, I have no one to impress,” Felix answered more honestly than Sylvain expected. 

They stayed silent for just a bit. The only sound being the chatter of the people around them or the wind when it got particularly strong. “Have you never been in love, Lix?” Sylvain broke the silence, hoping this didn’t touch a nerve in him, “no girl has ever captured your heart?” at that, he noticed Felix flinch, his golden-brown eyes looking up to meet with Sylvain.

Suddenly, an expression he had never seen on Felix’s face took up his features. A sad smile. Features below his nose smiling...but eyes that almost had a lifetime of words unsaid, “I’m...not attracted to women, Sylvain.” His smile remained on his face, “and...unlike you, I have no one to smile for left…” 

_ Oh. _ This conversation took the opposite turn of what Sylvain expected and both males had stopped their steps. He had never seen Felix like this and suddenly, everything made sense. Felix never flirting with girls and never visiting his family during breaks. He never talked about anyone...was Felix...alone in this world?

Looking down at the smaller, Sylvain hesitantly wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin upon the other’s head. He didn’t speak and he was surprised that Felix didn’t move away from the embrace as well.

They stayed like that for a while. In each other’s arms. Felix’s heart doing those flips again because his whole life was just _ unfair _. Holding back his tears, he tensed up when he heard Sylvain speaking again, “I will always accept you, Felix.” A squeeze. 

_ ‘I know.’ _He wanted to reply, but no words came out of his mouth except for a small nod.

“Smile for me.” He suddenly heard Sylvain say. Looking up, he was met with those bright eyes watching him intently, “If you have no one to smile for...I’d like you to try smiling for me.” He spoke softly, breath tickling Felix’s forehead as the latter closed his eyes and slumped his head against the other’s chest.

“Thank you,” is all Felix said, not trusting his own voice at this point.

“Hey, that’s what friends are for,” Sylvain said cheerfully, one hand reaching up to pat Felix’s head.

And that’s when Felix pulled away from him. _ Right. Friends. _ He reminded himself, shoving his hands in his pockets again and turning around. “Let’s go home. That’s enough opening up I’ve done for the next generations,” he said bitterly, walking ahead and not even turning around to see Sylvain’s face.

Felix’s sudden change in personality didn’t bother Sylvain at first, thinking that maybe he was just not used to be open with himself and this was all sudden to him. Quickly jogging to catch up, he caught a small wetness on Felix’s cheek…

\---

Like he said, it didn’t bother him at first...but now that he was packing up his clothes with only 2 days left before they had to leave and not a single word spoken by Felix, he was getting slightly worried. Would he back down on him last minute? He thought they were finally starting to open up in each other...but Felix just started treating him like a stranger again.

Just as he was about to call him, Felix walked in and held the door open, “These morons are here to help you pack,” _ Well that was the first sentence he had heard in a while. _ Sylvain smiled as he saw Ashe, Dimitri, and Claude walk in, taking off their shoes. 

Felix glanced at Sylvain one last time before making his way to his room.

“Wait!” Sylvain stopped him, causing Felix to just slightly turn around his head, raising an eyebrow at him. “Have you packed...or…”

“I’m not backing down on you, Sylvain.” Is all he said before walking inside his room and Sylvain heard a loud sigh of relief come out of his mouth.

“Ingrid just texted me to say that she made it safe to her granny’s house!” Ashe exclaimed, smiling at his friends before putting his phone away. Dimitri and Claude exchanged knowing looks before staring at Ashe. “What?” the freckled boy said, looking nervously at the mischievous grin on Claude’s face.

“You gonna tell her by the end of New Year’s or…’next year, I promise!” Claude said in Ashe’s voice, laughing when Dimitri elbowed him.

Ashe flushed and looked at Sylvain, who was also smiling at him. “Shut up! Let’s help Sylvain pack!” he quickly shuffled to Sylvain’s room, hearing the other three laughing softly as they followed.

To say that Sylvain wasn’t nervous would be a lie...but he trusted Felix...and he was ready to face his family for the first time in a long time...with someone by his side.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised longer chapters so I'm trying to provide. If you'd rather have shorter chapter with quicker updates just lmk, your comments are literally so encouraging to me <3.
> 
> Anyway, next one should come out around soon cause I start college on Monday and I'm too nervous to function so I got write while I have free time hsdiadkfda
> 
> Thank you for reading, leaving kudos, and comments!
> 
> byebye!!!!! 
> 
> Follow me on the Tumbs (if you'd like) @ softdimitri
> 
> (Feel free to correct me if any serious mistakes can be found!)


	3. Road Taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An awkward road trip later and suddenly...Felix can no longer breathe as they approach the door of Sylvain's childhood home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peep the FE song reference
> 
> (I was really about to make it "Country road take me hoooome")

The packing was done. There was luggage stacked by their dorm entryway as Sylvain smiled nervously, looking at Ashe, who was the only one with him today. _ 'Tomorrow is the day huh?' _ Sylvain sighed, looking at the closed door of Felix's room. The raven had not exited his room at all for the past two days, and if he did, it must've been while Sylvain was out. 

"Sylv, are you sure he's not dead in there?" Ashe scratched his freckled cheek, plopping down on the couch from exhaustion, "also...why do you need so much junk?" he frowned, wiping off some sweat from his forehead.

"A man like me needs to always look fashionable," said Sylvain as he was wearing Elmo sweatpants, turning his head to the door again and frowning, "perhaps I should check on him? If I die I at least won't have to be nervous anymore." he exaggerated, earning a roll of the eyes from Ashe.

Making his way to Felix's room, he knocked on the door softly, "Hey Lix, if you're packed and would like to bring your stuff out, we can have everything ready for tomorrow so we can leave early," he half-screamed through the door, waiting for any sort of reply.

Suddenly, the door knob turned to reveal a flushing Felix. _ Oh. _ The raven's hair was put up in an unusual ponytail, bangs brushed to his right and eyes averted away, "I'll bring everything out..." he spoke in a quiet tone, closing the door again as Sylvain heard shuffling around the room.

"Oh." He repeated out loud this time, frame frozen as he thought about the change in the other's appearance. _ 'Who knew that Felix could look cute?' _

"You're gonna move or do I have to constantly hit your head to snap you out of your traces? 'Cause I'm worried you'll get a concussion one day," Sylvain hadn't even heard the door open again. Felix was standing in front of him, a bag draped over one shoulder as his hand was extending behind him, holding his luggage.

"Ah, sorry...I was surprised to see your face for the first time in a while," he smiled, moving aside and reaching his hands out for Felix to walk through like a princess.

The younger was blushing a slight pink color as he walked into the living room, giving Ashe a nod of acknowledgement as he slumped his stuff next to Sylvain's. 

"Um, I should get going! I'm doing some light packing as well while I visit my step-dad. I wish you two a safe trip tomorrow!" Ashe gave the two a close-eyed smile as he made his way to the exit, tripping slightly over one of the bags. 

"Careful." Felix spoke in boredom, earning an embarrassed wave from Ashe who quickly walked out, closing the door behind him.

"..." 

"..."

"Are you staring at me?" Felix turned his intense gaze to Sylvain, who simply flushed in the embarrassment of getting caught and looked away, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry, your hair looks different," Sylvain said, pointing out the obvious as he made eye contact with the other. _ 'Was he always this pretty?' _

"Right...I thought the other style looked messy and I was trying out something different before I heard an _ obnoxious _ knock on my door,” he teased, voice less harsh than Sylvain expected.

“I like it. It suits you,” Sylvain said honestly, capturing a strand of Felix’s hair between his thumb and index finger, rubbing it between them.

The other quickly slapped Sylvain’s hand and looked away, a pink shade taking his pale cheeks and ears, “shut up.”

“Felix, is everything okay?” Sylvain asked seriously, looking at the younger, who only got more tense and looked to be holding something back. The redhead, took this opportunity to take a step closer to the other. He tapped his shoulder and waited. 

When Felix didn’t turn around and only shrunk away, Sylvain stepped in front of him only to see Felix blushing. “Hey, do you have a fever or something?” the taller asked, bringing his palm up to feel Felix’s forehead.

“...” Felix looked up and flushed even more at the proximity of their faces. Inhaling sharply, he brought a hand up and pushed Sylvain’s cheek so he faced the other way. Before the other could protest, Felix wrapped his arms around him and finally exhaled. 

Sylvain’s eyes widened as he looked down at Felix, who was hiding his face in the other’s chest. Smiling in confusion, he wrapped his arms around him and patted his back, tilting his head in question, “Seriously, are you sick?” he laughed when Felix stepped on his foot, the latter letting out a soft sound.

“I wanted to try...being...more f-friendly,” Felix huffed and pulled away quickly, crossing his arms over his chest and avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

“You...you’re trying to be more affectionate? For me?” Sylvain couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Is that why Felix avoided him the whole time? Was he trying to improve on his social skills on his own?

“N-not for you, moron!” _ Nevermind. _ Sylvain was smiling as Felix stumbled over his words, wanting to hug the smaller again but going against it. “I just want to be presentable to your family, and if I can’t even show affection to _ you _, then how can I go through with this?” he mumbled, brown eyes finally lifting to meet Sylvain’s tender gaze.

“Thank you, Felix- ah, I mean, _ love _,” Sylvain teased, giving Felix a slight wink.

Heated and embarrassed, Felix stuck his tongue out and mumbled a quick, “Shut up, loser!” before running off into his room again, slamming the door behind him.

Sylvain giggled at the other’s childish behavior, and decided to call it a night as well, knowing that they had to wake up early tomorrow to start their six hour drive.

\---

“Are you _ sure _ you didn’t forget anything?” Felix sighed as he was moving the last luggage bag into the trunk of Sylvain’s jeep. He looked over the side of the car to see Sylvain frantically running back inside the campus. “Idiot.” Felix mumbled to himself, sighing as he closed the trunk and opened the door to the passenger seat, stepping inside and closing the door once he was in. Enjoying the slight alone time, he rested his head against the car seat and closed his eyes. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a black button-up shirt, hair put in the usual bun since he wasn’t confident in the new hair yet. His auburn eyes suddenly opened when he heard the door to the driver’s seat open.

“Sorry, I had some gifts for my cousins that I almost forgot,” Sylvain said sheepishly, holding too large bags and shoving them to the backseat.

“I thought you never met them?” Felix questioned, trying to avoid looking at Sylvain, who’s white button-up shirt had a couple buttons open, showing a generous amount of his collarbone.

“I texted my mom three days ago on what they might like and their ages, so I went to get a few gifts,” he grinned, starting up the car as he looked at Felix with unsure eyes, “are you ready?”

“The more you delay this the more I’ll want to jump out the window, so just go,” the dark haired male mumbled, resting his elbow against the window and his cheek quickly found its way to his closed palm.

“Felix,” once he saw that he grabbed the attention of the said man, he smiled brightly and gave him a thumbs up, “thank you,” he said sincerely, waiting for a reply.

“Just drive,” Felix commanded, giving his own unsure small smile, that if you weren’t paying attention, it wouldn’t even look like a smile. He turned his gaze to the outside of the window and Sylvain decided that this was about as much interaction that he’d get for a while.

\---

An hour into the drive, Sylvain was already singing loudly to Shakira and Britney Spears, knowing almost _ all _ of the lyrics and Felix swore that five more hours of this was impossible. 

“WITH THE TASTE OF YOUR LIPS I’M ON A RIIIDE~~,” Sylvain sang loudly, causing Felix to sigh and glare at him slightly. 

“Pay attention to the roa- Sylvain, keep your hands on the damn wheel!” Felix was scrunching his nose in anger when Sylvain almost took his hands off the wheel to do some sort of dance, speaking loudly over the blasted song.

The redhead turned to Felix and smiled apologetically, halting his singing for a while as he started to focus on the road, continuing with the silence for the next thirty minutes. 

Felix didn't mind at all, but of course, Sylvain couldn't go too long without talking.

“Did you have any childhood friends growing up?” As much as he knew Felix would get sensitive over talking about his childhood, he decided that he knew almost nothing about the other and how he grew up.

“This girl named Annette was about the only company I had apart from my brother,” Felix shrugged, recalling the strange singing girl who always hung out around a taller girl, Mercedes, was it? 

Sylvain was surprised to hear Felix talk about someone else, let alone the mention of a brother, “You have a brother?” He questioned, eyes only glancing to Felix when he felt the other tense up in his seat.

“Had,” was all that Felix said, and Sylvain asked no further questions about him, mentally facepalming as he remembered Felix saying something along the lines of ‘having no one left.’

“I'm sorry, I didn't know,” he tried to console the other, not being able to imagine what Felix must be feeling right now.

“S’fine, long time ago,” Sylvain heard a slight sleepiness in Felix’s voice, so he lowered the radio volume and stopped talking, continuing to drive silently.

“Miklan,” Sylvain's hands gripped the wheel when he heard Felix mention his own brother, not expecting him to be awake. “What's he like? You avoided talking about him...so I thought your relationship must be sour,” Felix commented innocently, head turning to look at Sylvain’s quite unpleasant face.

Sitting silent for a moment, he decided that Felix deserved to at least know a bit about his brother, “he hates me.” Was a simple enough explanation.

Felix tilt his head in curiosity, and Sylvain smiled as he saw it from the corner of his eyes, “what?” He proceeded to ask the raven, who stayed silent for a bit.

“Dunno… I wasn't expecting that answer I guess,” Felix hummed, looking out the window again, _ ‘so much for a conversation, Felix.’ _He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and sighed.

“I can feel your distress from here, so don't worry your pretty little head about him. He won't bother us and I'm sure he'll rarely even be home,” Sylvain reassured, hearing a sigh from Felix.

Felix realized that no matter how much Sylvain talked about himself, there was still so much hidden behind that charming smile and cheerful voice. 

\---

They were three hours into the drive and Sylvain had parked near a resting area. He walked out of the car and stretched his legs, inhaling the fresh air and looking around at the woods, listening to the quiet birds chirping.

Yawning, Felix got out of the car too and stretched his entire body, looking at the little building and turning to Sylvain, “I’m gonna go take a piss,” he mumbled, earning a nod from Sylvain.

“I’ll be there soon,” Sylvain smiled, watching as the other walked off into the building. He turned on his phone and looked at the time. _ 11:30 P.M. _ So, if the drive went smoothly, they should be there around 2:30 or so. Sylvain hummed and looked at the multiple texts sent from Ingrid, one from Dimitri, one from Ashe, and one from Claude that simply said “ _ wear protection ;) _”, and Sylvain just giggled at them.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Felix yelling a ‘fuck off’ at whoever was in the building with him. Hearing this, he instantly closed his phone and ran inside the bathroom, seeing Felix cornered against a stall by some weird man who was simply inching closer, earning himself a slap from Felix.

Anger rising within him, Sylvain dashed towards the man and grabbed him by the shirt, throwing him away from Felix and against the sink, “Fuck _ off, _” the redhead almost growled, earning a glare from the weirdo.

“What, are you his prince charming?” He chuckled, getting up and winking at Felix, who only made a disgusted face and stood next to Sylvain.

“Doesn’t fucking matter to you. If you lay another finger on him I’m going to kill you with my bare hands,” Sylvain glared, eyes flaring with anger as he wrapped a protective arm around Felix, pulling him closer until their bodies were flushed against each other. 

The guy scoffed and murmured some insults before walking off, cursing under his breath and not turning to even look at the two.

Sylvain frowned and turned to fully face Felix, wrapping both arms around him and causing Felix to flinch softly, “I’m sorry...did he do anything to you? Are you alright? I swear if he hurt you in any way I’m going to run after him right now and kill him myse-”

“Sylvain,” Felix rested his palms against the taller’s chest and gave a genuine smile to the worried man, “I’m fine. No harm. No scratch. No anything. I slapped him away and that’s when you came in.” The raven reassured, sighing softly when Sylvain hesitantly smiled. “Seriously, idiot. I’m okay...thank you,” he mumbled, looking up at Sylvain and patting his cheek before he pulled away. 

Sylvain sighed in relief and chuckled when the other patted his cheek, “Okay okay, let me piss and then we’ll start heading out again. Just...stay outside the stall please,” he gave Felix a worried smile.

Rollings his eyes, Felix nodded and shoo-ed him away, leaning against the wall until Sylvain was done with his business. 

When the redhead walked inside the stall, Felix flushed shyly as he remembered how protective Sylvain had been and how close and shakily he held him when he thought about Felix getting hurt. He listened to his own heartbeat and hoped that Sylvain couldn’t hear it because the pure emotion he was feeling right now was..._ admiration. _

A few moments later both of them were walking back in the car and sat quietly when Sylvain started driving again.

It wasn’t an awkward or uncomfortable silence, rather, it was a silence that both of them didn’t mind as long as they were in each other’s presence. The radio was playing some ‘catchy’ pop song and Felix found himself tapping his finger to the beat against the armrest of the door.

“Felix, can I ask you something?” Sylvain’s voice broke the silence, and the younger found himself humming for Sylvain to go on, indicating that he was listening. “Er, I was just going to ask if you had any limits to how much...uhm…” Felix could see that Sylvain had trouble thinking of his words, but the male already knew what he wanted to ask.

“You can do anything that looks convincing to them, Sylvain...although,” it was Felix’s turn to become speechless as he flushed and looked out the window.

Sylvain glanced at Felix a bit and saw his flustered expression, “What’s up? You can tell me anything you know?” the taller reassured, focusing on the road as he waited for Felix to continue on.

“I-I’ve never kissed anyone...so I don’t know how convincing kissing me will look,” Felix then flushed more when he realized what he was saying, and he quickly grumbled a cursed word, now staring at his lap in embarrassment.

A soft giggle came out of Sylvain, mostly from pure shock of the other’s adorableness but also because, “I didn’t think you’d assume we’d be kissing in front of them,” Sylvain commented, earning another grumble from Felix before deciding to turn completely serious. “Felix you don’t need to worry about it, we don’t have to go that far if you’re not comfortable, especially if I’m gonna have to steal your kiss virginity,” Sylvain teased, voice getting playful at the end of his sentence.

“Shut up, Sylvain. I wouldn’t have made that comment if I thought of kisses as something important,” Felix sighed, his heart beating slightly faster at the direction this conversation was heading.

Sylvain then made a sudden turn and pulled up at the corner of the highway, making sure his car was not in the way of the main road. “Felix, kisses are important when sharing a romantic relationship,” Sylvain was pouting when Felix glared at him, wondering why the fuck he had stopped his car so suddenly.

“Did you seriously just pull up your car to scold me? What the fu-” the raven was interrupted before he could finish, total shock filling his eyes and entire being at what Sylvain said next.

“Do you want to practice kissing me?” the redhead said, face completely serious as he looked at Felix.

“Y-you’ve got to be kidding me…” Felix spoke, voice completely shaken at the whole situation that was going on.

Sylvain tilt his head and removed his seatbelt, edging closer to Felix and looking at him in the eyes, “I’m dead serious, Felix. I know it’s an odd thing to recommend, but if you’re not feeling confident then it’s the least I can do. Especially since you’re in this situation because of me.” As he finished talking, Sylvain looked a bit _ sad _, and Felix’s heart hurt to see him like this.

Removing his own seatbelt, Felix edged closer and looked at Sylvain, face completely red in embarrassment, “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done and we’re never going to kiss if nobody is watching us but…” he inhaled sharply before exhaling, “let’s fucking kiss so I can see how it feels before I get completely shocked if you do it out of nowhere,” Felix mumbled the last bit, and Sylvain found him to be _ extremely _ adorable when he looked unsure.

“You sure? I seriously don’t want to take something so important from you…” Sylvain pouted, earning a smack across the head, flinching in pain.

“You pulled your car over and suggested we do this, so fucking man up and kiss me. Maybe you’ll have an awakening,” Sylvain’s eyes widened at Felix’s teasing tone, not being able to accept the fact that the other could actually joke around like that sometimes. “Also, I already said kisses had no value to me, so just get on with it,” Felix added, making sure Sylvain had no more doubts about it.

Sylvain looked at the other, hesitantly reaching his hand up and cupping Felix's warm cheek, thumb stroking it lightly out of reflex, "Are you positive? I really don't-"

"Sylvain for fuck's sake. I can be negative and you'll still need to get over it. Just fucking press your lips against mine in the way those disgusting couples do or else I'm never going to understand why people suck faces to begin with." Felix deadpanned, and as confident as he sounded, he was on one hundred percent panic mode inwardly. His heart was racing and his thoughts trailed to the entire idea of _ kissing _ Sylvain of all people. _ The moron who made his heart beat one thousand miles per hour for some reason _. 

Sylvain laughed a bit and leaned closer, resting his forehead against Felix's, "It might not be what you're expecting," was all he said before closing his eyes and pressing his lips against the other's.

_ Sylvain was right _ . It was _ nothing _ what Felix expected. The entire idea of kissing just didn't go through Felix's brain right for all the wrong reasons. The gesture itself was _ too _ sweet...too soft and too emotionally invested that he felt his entire body feel electric jolts all over it. Sylvain was pressing his lips against his and all he could do was freeze, eyes wide.

Sensing that something might be wrong, Sylvain pulled away slowly and looked at the wide-eyed Felix, "Was it that bad?" He chuckled nervously, face still merely a few inches away from Felix's.

Noticing that it was his cue to speak, Felix snapped out of his trace (or spell) and looked at Sylvain...within this distance, he could almost count the barely visible freckles on the other's cheeks. "Sylvain...what am I supposed to do?" He asked honestly, eyes wondering to Sylvain's lips and then back, face feeling way too warm and his hands clutched to his thighs.

Blinking in confusion, Sylvain realized that Felix was asking on _ how _ to return the kiss. "Ah!" He exclaimed, cheeks also slightly flushed from the kiss. "I'll guide you," he smiled warmly, taking his other hand and cupping Felix's other cheek. "First, tilt your head to the opposite side of mine, like so," he instructed, maneuvering with Felix's face a bit and tilting it to the left, "then, instead of being a fish out of water, try to press your own lips against mine...but softly," the older continued to instruct, looking at the other's pondering face. "Oh, and, close your eyes when you're kissing someone, it's more passionate that way," Sylvain winked, and all Felix could do was blush more and nod.

With this new found information, Felix felt more confident as he looked back at Sylvain, "One more time," he pleaded, and he'd like to blame the weird drug known as a 'kiss' for making him speak this way.

Sylvain nodded before leaning in once more and tilting his head to the right, smiling when Felix leaned in as well, head still tilted to the left. 

Their lips met in between. It was tender and soft, both moving slowly against the other, their lips doing all their work on their own. It was _ odd. So so odd _. Felix's hands were clenched into tight fists on his lap, brain getting foggy from the sweet sensation of Sylvain's lips moving against his own. 

To say that it was one of the warmest feelings Felix had ever experienced would be an understatement. This was weird. It was so relaxing yet it could mean so much and as nice as it felt, Felix realized he needed to breathe.

Pulling away with a gasp, the shorter looked expectantly into Sylvain's golden eyes, curious to see how the other felt about this kiss.

"Much better, Lix…" Sylvain said, yet his voice sounded slightly different, and Felix couldn't quite figure out what it was. "You have soft lips…" Sylvain said almost too quietly, as if Felix wasn't meant to hear that comment. Head moving back a bit, Sylvain smiled when he saw Felix's clenched fists, "you can move your hands Felix. It's more comfortable having them wrapped around me," he then moved his own hands and placed them on top of Felix's unsure and shaky ones. He raised them and wrapped them around his own neck, looking at Felix, "you can wrap them like so, or rest them on my chest. Whatever is more comfortable for you," the redhead smiled, eyes going wide when he felt Felix's hands wrap slightly tighter, pulling him further down.

"One more," the younger mumbled, hands feeling sweaty and nervous with their new positioning, eyes closing as he pulled Sylvain in, not even waiting for the other to speak. 

Felix knew that this was wrong. That kissing Sylvain was something he would only enjoy in the presence of his family. That it was something he wouldn't be able to do once their whole fake relationship would be over. But damn those future thoughts because now all that Felix did was cling onto Sylvain as he pulled him in for another kiss.

The male was lucky his roommate didn't question him, instead, Sylvain shifted awkwardly on his seat and cupped Felix's cheeks again, returning the kiss with just as much enthusiasm as he had the other two. 

Felix hated himself for it. He knew that kissing would only make letting go harder. Yet how could he stop? When Sylvain's lips were so soft and his hands caressed him as if he was worth so much? How could he stop when Sylvain _licked his bottom lip-_ _what?!_

Auburn eyes opened wide, and before he could process that _ odd _ sensation, Sylvain had quickly pulled away and quickly faced forward. "Y-You learn quick. I would've guessed you've been kissing people for years," the redhead mumbled awkwardly, face flushed as he buckled up, eyes refusing to meet with Felix's.

_ 'Ah. He regrets it.' _Is what Felix thought to himself. The warmth leaving his body and instead, being replaced with that stinging to his heart. He buckled up as well and turned to face the window, not speaking a single word to Sylvain as he placed his elbow on the armrest and leaned his cheek against his palm. 

Sylvain had started to drive again and the two didn't speak another word to each other.

\---

The redhead would only occasionally glance at Felix's sleeping face as he drove. They were awfully close to their destination, yet all Sylvain could think about was the fact that he almost took their little kissing practice a step further. 

Felix had agreed to practice on his kisses, which where ironically _ good _ . And the last thing Sylvain wanted to do is ruin that trust Felix placed on him by taking advantage of the other. _ 'That's right, Sylvain. He doesn't even want to be here, let alone kiss someone like you,' _ he thought bitterly, scoffing at himself for being pathetic. 

He didn't want to scare Felix, especially since he was new to everything about this sort of thing. Felix had _ never _ been in a relationship, let alone _ kiss _ someone, and Sylvain felt awful for getting too into it. 

Trying to forget about this whole ordeal, Sylvain nearly froze when he recognized the street he was driving in. This small town in the outer city, where only the rich lived. There were barely any people around, only large manors and slight farming areas. The male remembered taking the left of this road to Dimitri's house, the blonde always running out with excitement. 

Reminiscing on his childhood, Sylvain hadn't realized that he came upon _ his _ house. The same old little...er…big, Gautier manor. _ 'Home sweet home, I guess.' _

Feeling a sudden shift from the passenger seat, Sylvain turned to look at Felix and smile, deciding it was time to wake him up. "Psst...sunshine," he whispered, receiving a groan and a turn of the back completely from Felix. Laughing quietly, he tapped the other's back, proceeding to park near the gate, "Felix, come on." 

Yawning quite loudly, Felix rubbed his eyes and sat up, looking around at the unfamiliar environment. His eyes widened at the large house in front of him and he quickly turned to Sylvain, "Sylvain take me home," he panicked, suddenly realizing what he had gotten himself into.

The other boy laughed, albeit he was nervous as well. "Felix relax. We'll be fine. You'll do great. It's just two weeks and then we'll be out of here. Just...be yourself, it's the person I'm supposed to have fallen for," Sylvain reassured.

While those words were kind, Felix still took them bitterly, scoffing when he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Sure, I'll just walk in and tell everyone to fuck off. Since, you know, I gotta be myself," he didn't want to sound rude, but his nerves were just making him snap.

Sylvain gave him a disapproving look and sighed, "You know what I mean, silly. Everything will be okay. Just breathe in and out, we can stay here for a bit." 

As lovely as that sounded, Felix felt sore, and staying in this confined space with just Sylvain made him dizzy, so he opened the car door and placed a foot out, "Fuck it. Fuck breathing. Let's go." He inhaled sharply, taking a step out and almost stumbling.

Sylvain turned off the car and stepped outside as well, sighing as the chilly December air hit his face. He wrapped his jacket tighter around himself and watched as Felix looked around in confusion, auburn eyes full of wonder. Smiling to himself, Sylvain watched the other for a bit longer before suddenly meeting with those said eyes.

“It’s nice...secluded from the city and peaceful,” Felix mumbled, face taking a small smirk as he approached Sylvain, “Maybe I’ll marry into your family just to live here,” he grinned, earning a shocked gasp from Sylvain.

“You _ wound _me! I’m worth more than a big house and money!” Sylvain frowned, heart suddenly feeling heavy at the idea of Felix just being his friend...for this.

“Shut up, idiot. I’m just saying I like the area. You know I’d still be your friend, _ sadly _, even if you lived in a small ass cottage,” Felix smiled slightly, walking to the back of the car and opening the trunk. 

Those small words of reassurance meant so much to Sylvain, and he felt his heart skip a beat, even though Felix had no idea what that meant for him. “Let’s go say hi first. Then they'll help us move our stuff in," Sylvain smiled nervously, gulping an d _ finally _ buttoning up those sinful little buttons that showed his collarbone. 

Hearing that made Felix’s heart sink and he slowly moved to Sylvain. “Fuck, Sylvain what if they hate me?” he looked down and gripped his jacket, suddenly feeling self conscious and scared.

“Hey, look at me,” Sylvain’s voice was gentle as he took Felix’s hand in his larger one, smiling, “just hold my hand and be yourself okay? Whether they like you or not is on them. I’m not going to leave you because of my parents,” Sylvain sighed and squeezed Felix’s hand.

“You sound as if I’m your actual boyfriend, you moron,” Felix mumbled, squeezing his hand back and looking ahead at the front door.

“Convincing aren’t I?” The taller grinned, wiggling his eyebrows which made Felix angry and caused him to step on his foot.

“Shut up before I take the next bus home,” He rolled his eyes, standing closer to Sylvain and inhaling sharply, “Okay, let’s go,” Felix said, heart thumping against his chest as Sylvain started taking steps forward. 

They stood in front of the door for a little while before Sylvain took his hand and knocked. As they waited, Sylvain shuffled closer to Felix, making sure they at least looked convincing and in love. “Felix...thank you,” he mumbled, closing his eyes and then opening them when he heard steps approaching the door.

Felix simply nodded, too nervous to tell him to shut up. 

Then, before they knew it, the door opened to reveal a woman with the same hair color as Sylvain, eyes greener than grass and curls flowing down her shoulders. She had those same faint freckles on her cheeks and her smile was almost as bright as Sylvain’s. _ Almost. _ “Sylvain! Oh my darling, it’s been so long!” The woman mumbled, Felix recognizing her as his mom. “And this? Oh! Sylvain you didn’t say you were bringing a pretty _ boy _ home!” She laughed, emphasizing the ‘boy’ and slowly approaching them, opening her arms. 

“Mama, I missed you too,” Sylvain smiled, hugging her with one arm as the other still held onto Felix’s hand. “This is Felix, my very special little someone,” he grinned, edging Felix to come closer.

Felix was completely frozen but he complied, coming close, cheeks flushed in embarrassment and also because he was snapped out of his thoughts. “I-It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Sylvain talks a lot about you,” Felix gave her a small smile, amber eyes meeting with green ones. 

The woman did not hesitate to pull him into an embrace as well, smiling softly at the shy boy. “Felix! What a handsome name for a handsome boy. Thank you for taking care of this idiot. I was getting quite tired myself of his constant flirting with women, but maybe this whole time he needed a boy like you to snap him out of it.” She teased, and Felix could see where Sylvain got his talkative trait from. 

“It hasn’t been easy but at least this _ idiot _ stopped winking at everything that walked on two legs,” Felix smirked, earning himself a gasp of betrayal from Sylvain and a giggle from his mother. 

“Where are my manners! I’m Teressa Marie Gautier, but you can call me anything you’d like,” she then turned to Sylvain and sighed, “I like him. He’s honest,” she grinned at Sylvain’s pout and pinched his cheek, “let’s get your stuff in. Your father and Miklan drove to the airport to pick up your aunts. They’ll be here in a few hours maybe.” She smiled and stepped outside with her slippers, and Felix let out a sigh of relief that he did not know he was holding.

Teressa was very _ sweet _. She was a lot like Sylvain except she may have had her life together. Smiling to himself, Felix finally let go of Sylvain’s hand (as cold as his hand now felt) and started walking towards the open trunk. 

Sylvain and Felix carried the heavier bags and luggage while Teressa took some smaller ones as they made their way to the house.

Upon stepping inside, Felix was baffled by the amount of picture frames in the hallway. He stopped in his tracks and noticed a lot of young Sylvain and some of his older brother. _ ‘Someone’s the favorite huh?’ _ he grinned to himself, seeing a cute picture of Sylvain with a stick and a cape, pretending to be some sort of knight.

Looking back at Felix, Sylvain smiled at the other’s curious eyes and softening features. ‘_ Does Felix know what it feels like to have pictures like this?’ _ Upon thinking that, Sylvain’s heart ached and he softly whistled to get Felix’s attention, “You can admire little charming old me when we get our stuff in,” he grinned, earning a roll of the eyes from Felix.

“Right, me too, Felix. Don’t you get tired of his constant high praise of himself?” Teressa teased, starting to walk towards a rather large open hall that led to a staircase. 

“It’s...oddly charming,” Felix said honestly, although to Sylvain it just seems like an act of their fake relationship. The raven stopped yet again to admire the large hall and look at the stairway, blinking in surprise, “This looks like one of those stairways where a vampire is about to walk down from,” he unintentionally said out loud, eyes wondering to Sylvain and Teressa, smiling at him as if he were a small little baby that discovered something.

“Sylvain he’s a keeper, I love him!” Teressa giggled, making Sylvain and Felix flush from her excitement. 

“Yeah yeah, don’t steal him from me, he’s all I’ve got!” Sylvain grinned already starting to walk up the stairs, the other two following behind.

Felix was shyly staring at the floor as they climbed the stairs. _ How could Sylvain say things that meant so much without feeling guilty of lying? _ Felix sighed and looked at another open hallway. This one had a grand piano in the center, peeking out to a small balcony that overlooked the living room. The rest of the hallway lead to seven...or were there more, doors? 

“Who plays the piano?” Felix found himself questioning, looking at the two redheads quizzically.

“Sylvain learned to play from a young age. Although I doubt he still knows how,” Teressa teased, looking at her son and raising her eyebrows when he gasped in shock.

“I beg to differ! I still know how to play the piano, thank you very much. I’ll play it one day and have Felix fall for me all over again,” he exclaimed dramatically, starting to walk down the hallway.

Felix rolled his eyes and looked at Teressa, who simply smiled and shrugged at Felix, “Will he, though?” she asked, looking at the raven for confirmation.

“Highly doubt it but let’s leave him to dream,” Felix chuckled, and Sylvain was stomping away, huffing. They walked down the hall and took a left, a singular door being in the far end. More paintings and pictures were on the walls and this hallway was surrounded by windows, showing a beautiful view of the garden, although a lot of flowers had not bloomed.

Upon reaching the door, Teressa set the bags down and smiled, “This is your room. Sylvain is familiar with it since this was his room after all,” She sighed and dusted off her hands, “I suppose you don’t mind sharing a room together right? Are you at that stage?” She grinned, raising her eyebrows.

“We’ll be fine mami, thank you. We’re roommates on campus so this won’t be much different,” Sylvain chuckled, setting down some bags and looking at his mom, “Plus, I love cuddling this feisty bunny so now this gives me an excuse to,” Sylvain grinned, earning a glare from Felix and a giggle from his mother.

“Awh, you two! You didn’t have much of an option anyway, so I apologize to Felix in advance. Our three guest rooms are taken and if Granny decides to come in that’ll make the extra room downstairs taken as well.” Teressa smiled apologetically, frowning when she saw Sylvain’s bitter expression. “Sylvie...I know how you feel about Granny...but please don’t let this affect your stay here okay? I want Felix to feel warm and welcome,” she then folded her hands in front of her refined posture and made her way down the hallway, “I hope you enjoy your stay. Both of you. I’ll call you down when everyone arrives. If you need help don’t hesitate to call me!” And with that, she disappeared down the hallway and steps going down were heard.

Sylvain still looked a bit off but he decided to smile, opening the door and pushing it in, to reveal his room. “Sorry if you hate sleeping close to someone but for now...to seem convincing we have to at least share a room. I’ll sleep on the couch if you wan-”

Felix cut off his rant by nudging him, “Aw don’t worry my wittle cuddle bunny! We’ll snuggle all night long, my wittle Sylvie,” the raven teased, making a completely exaggerated lovey-dovey voice as he stepped into the room. Shuddering at his own words, he set the bags down and took some time to admire Sylvain’s room. 

“Felix, please don’t say that even again!” Sylvain laughed, picking up the luggage again and stepping inside, closing the door with his foot. “Ah, nothing’s changed...except for that lamp, I definitely had a nightlight there instead,” he mumbled to himself, looking for any reaction from Felix, but the raven simply admired his room.

There was a significantly large bed on the right corner of the room. Where those fucking curtains on the bed?! Felix looked at the center and noticed the window was similar to those bay windows where there were pillows on them and you could sit while looking at the view. There was a large closet on the far left and a stand-up mirror placed beside it. There was also a door to what Felix assumed must be a bathroom, and a few dressers with a bunch of items in them. Old music records, picture frames, some action figures, comics, actual books, and a bunch of other little things that described Sylvain as a person. “God,” the raven mumbled, eyes flickering from left to right to take in any other detail that he found appealing. He also noted the couch placed to the left of the door and the rug that covered half of the wooden floor. 

“Earth to Felix!” Sylvain laughed and waved a hand in front of the male, who was still looking around.

“Hm? Oh,” Felix blinked cutely and looked at Sylvain, eyes full of amazement, “Sorry your room is very flashy...not that I wasn’t expecting it,” Felix scoffed, raising his eyebrows when Sylvain moved towards the door.

“Yeah yeah, let’s get everything in place before Seth- er, my father comes home and brings the rest of the crew,” Sylvain smiled, and Felix noticed that whenever the redhead talked about someone he was not particularly fond of, he’d avert his eyes and force a smile. 

It was interesting to say the least. Someone as bright as Sylvain doesn’t seem to have issues in his life, but it looks like people shouldn’t assume about what’s hiding behind a smile and a flirtatious facade. 

Shrugging it off, Felix decided to help Sylvain move things in the room, and the two spend the rest of the hour or so sorting out their clothes.

“Phew that was a lot,” Sylvain sighed in relief, plopping on his bed and smiling at the comfort of the soft sheets.

“I wonder why,” Felix rolled his eyes, sitting on the couch and throwing his head against the headrest, “_ Someone _, decided to bring in their whole closet with them,” the black haired male snickered, glancing at Sylvain who raised his head and frowned at Felix.

“Yeah? Well it’s not my fault I can never decide what to wear. So I had to bring in a minimum amount of options,” the redhead defended, swinging his long legs off the bed.

“You call that a _ minimum _?” Felix questioned, gaze completely judgemental as he stood up and stretched his arms, yawning. “Sylvain we have to talk about the elephant in the room,” he suddenly said and gold eyes quickly looked at him.

“There’s an elephant we’re not talking about?” Sylvain sat up, sitting on the edge of the bed and tilting his head like a puppy, red hair bouncing with the motion.

“Are you an idiot or do you just enjoy getting on my nerves?” Felix sighed, eyebrow wrinkles prominent as he glared at Sylvain.

“I’m just teasing. I like your sighs of frustration,” Sylvain grinned innocently, smile so wide that his teeth were showing, “What’s up?” he then questioned, face turning completely serious.

Ignoring the warmth that was rising to his cheeks, Felix tried to glare harder, “Your mother wasn’t what I was worried about...but what about the rest, Sylvain? I realize that perhaps I _ should not have _ ignored you as much as I did and we _ should have _ prepared more for this so if anything were to go wrong then you can blame m-” Felix was shushed when he felt a hand pat his head gently.

Sylvain kneeled down in front of him on the couch and tilted his head, smiling at the shorter, “I don’t care if they don’t buy it. I got you into this mess so I’ll take responsibility for it. You didn’t _ have _to do this for me...yet you did. So if anything, you can-” this time it was Sylvain who was cut off.

“Shut up,” Felix was smiling as he looked down at the older, “We’re in this together, _ sadly. _ So get up and stop kneeling like you’re about to propose to me, Mr. Gautier,” Felix teased, tone a lot more relaxed than it was when they first got here.

Sylvain’s soft laughter filled the room as he got up and sat next to Felix, relaxing completely, “I’m glad it was you out of all people who agreed to do this,” Sylvain closed his eyes and threw his head back, humming softly.

Felix stayed silent, too embarrassed to answer as he looked at Sylvain, eyes narrowing down to his lips and suddenly, he felt his face grow warm at the little ‘practice’ they had done in the car. He could still feel the lingering warmth of Sylvain’s lips and the slight poke that his tongue had done. _ Why? _

Turning to look away from Sylvain, Felix inhaled shakily and tried to calm down, feeling sudden aches within his heart. ‘_ I hate this feeling. _’

Hearing Felix’s shaky breathing, Sylvain opened his eyes and turned his head curiously, but just as he was about to touch Felix’s shoulder to ask him what was wrong, he heard the call of his mom’s voice through the hallway, “Sylvain! Everyone’s here!” 

Both males sat up quicker than lightning, and Felix looked at Sylvain with an immense amount of panic in his eyes. 

Sylvain gulped and held Felix’s hand, “Don’t freak out. It’s exactly as you said, we’re in this together,” the golden eyed boy smiled, giving Felix’s hand a gentle squeeze. When Felix nodded, the two stepped out of the room and began walking downstairs, hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this chapter typed up but first week of college got in the way and sdhiashd sorry for the delay! However, the benefit is that I doubled the length of this chapter from what I initially had, so I hope it'll make up for the long wait :( <3
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this one too and I'm off to writing the next chapter or getting distracted and doing another one-shot...we'll see!
> 
> As always, thank you for your comments, love, kudos, etc. 
> 
> Pointing out mistakes is 100% appreciated! Have a wonderful day/night/afternoon!!


	4. Your Warm Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix meets the rest of Sylvain's family, and while most of it went well, the two still feel bothered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for names from other FE games to make an appearance woooo!! 
> 
> This chapter took me long to write sorry ;; I had it all planned out and ready but when it came to putting it together I couldn't find the right format.
> 
> Hope this is still good or doesn't seem out of place.

‘_ Had it always been like this? _’ Sylvain wondered as he held onto Felix’s hand. Since when did he feel safe around Felix of all people? 

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, Sylvain tugged Felix as they made their way down the stairs. From the hall they were at, the loud talking of aunt Chloe and Bella could be heard, as well as children happily giggling and talking. “Sylvain wait,” Felix stopped his tracks and held tightly onto Sylvain’s hand, voice sounding soft and vulnerable.

Quickly turning his head, Sylvain was met with unsure eyes, “Felix?” Slowing approaching the shorter male, Sylvain looked down and tilted his head, edging him to go on.

“I’m...sorry if I mess this up for you...you know I hate talking to people and just-” whatever he was about to say next was cut off by Sylvain tightly wrapping his arms around him. 

“As you would say..._ shut up, Felix. _ I could care less if you ruin this. It’s better spending an awkward two weeks with you rather than having to deal with my father’s disappointment all _ alone _,” Sylvain looked at him in the eyes sadly, smiling that smile that had so many words hidden behind it.

Felix wrapped his arms around Sylvain, feeling his heart flutter at the warmth of the other’s body, “Sylvain, I-”

“There they are!” Teressa’s excited voice cut off Felix, and the male quickly removed himself from the hug, standing awkwardly by Sylvain as if he were on display. 

The excited and shocked gasps from Sylvain’s aunts were heard as everyone slowly approached the two. “My my! Teressa you didn’t say Sylvain brought over a _ man!” _ One of them spoke, and Felix recognized her as Chloe since Sylvain said she had dyed her hair blonde. She quickly hugged Sylvain and kissed his cheeks, “You’ve grown so much! I mean, _ that’s what ten years does to one, huh? _” She grinned, freckles very evident on her pale cheeks. 

“You look the same, aunt Chloe. Still young and thriving, I see,” Sylvain winked, earning him a light pat on the head.

“Yeah yeah, you probably say that to _all_ the girls...and boys?” She grinned and turned to Felix, who was shyly playing with his hands. “Look at how handsome he is, Bella! My, my are you foreign?” Chloe was a very excited woman as she took Felix in an embrace and kissed both of his cheeks.

Bella had also come close but she was busy cooing at how much Sylvain had grown. She then turned to Felix as well and both of them surrounded him. “You are indeed right, Chloe, how very handsome!”

The male looked at the two back and forth and bowed his head shyly, holding back any need to run away. _ He couldn’t mess this up _. “I-It’s nice to meet you,” he mumbled, looking back at them and accepting their hugs, “My name is Felix and er, my mother was indeed foreign,” he smiled.

Sylvain then moved behind Felix and wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on the other’s head and shooing his aunts away, “Don’t scare, Lixie. He’s very shy and introverted, and while yes, he is very handsome, you can’t stare at him too much!” Sylvain grinned, hugging the male closer to display possessiveness. 

The two women laughed in unison, completely adoring the shy male and motioning for their kids to come here.

Suddenly, Sylvain went still and his smile disappeared. Felix felt the arms around him grow tighter and he glanced up, seeing the frown upon Sylvain’s beautiful features. _ What? _ He then turned to where Sylvain was looking and froze as well. Seth Jean Gautier, the man of the house himself was simply glancing at the two, Miklan and two other men by his side. 

“Felix?” Seth repeated, approaching the two and towering over them, “What family do you belong to?” he asked, voice cold and almost _ unapproachable. _

“Father…” Sylvain pulled away from Felix and moved beside him, holding his hand instead, “He’s not here to be interrogated,” the taller glared, and Felix simply nudged him.

“It’s fine...My family name is Fraldarius.” Felix was still calm, maintaining eye contact with the man’s judgemental, golden eyes. Looking at those eyes was the opposite of looking at Sylvain’s eyes. One’s displayed kindness, while the other showed no emotion whatsoever. 

“Fraldarius? Never heard of them. Not a noble are you?” Miklan came by Seth’s side, looking at Felix as well.

Felix inhaled sharply and smiled bitterly to the two males, “No. I’m no rich person.” He then soured and stared dead into their eyes, “I hardly doubt you’ll ever hear of them considering they’re all gone.”

Sylvain’s gasped softly and wrapped an arm around Felix, holding him close, “Father, Miklan. Whether you like it or not, Felix is going to stay here with us. I don’t _ care _ whether he’s rich or poor and you should stop trying to get me to marry a noblewoman. This isn’t the 1800s anymore.” His voice was like nothing Felix had ever heard from Sylvain. It was a bitter voice, no emotion except for the sternness of his tone.

Miklan scoffed and turned to his father, who was simply staring at the two in front of him with no emotion. “See what you’ve raised, father? First a womanizer and now he’s not even into women,” he shook his head, and Teressa quickly approached this interaction.

“Miklan, be quiet. Seth, Felix is Sylvain’s boyfriend and whether you accept it or not, it’s his decision on who he wants to be with. Stop forcing your ideals on him, he’s grown up now.” Teressa stated, voice rough and she stood by Felix’s other side.

“Mami, it’s fine. They can say what they want,” Sylvain chuckled, no real happiness behind how that laughter sounded, and suddenly, Felix felt an immense amount of guilt. _ ‘This is all a lie. Sylvain is getting disowned because of me. His mother is telling them we’re in love when this is all...fake.’ _These thoughts ran across Felix and he stayed silent, knowing that if he spoke his voice would sound way too vicious.

“Alright alright, you men can leave now. Drink in the bar down in the basement or something. Let me introduce my beautiful children,” Chloe glared and looked at her husband, edging him to get Seth and Miklan out of here. George, Chloe’s husband grabbed Miklan, saying his hello to Felix and Sylvain with a kind smile before walking off. 

Julio, Belle’s husband, put an arm on Seth and pulled him away, but not before Sylvain earned himself a final blank stare from his father.

When all of them were out of the room, Felix sighed and turned to look at Sylvain, eyes trying to read the hurt expression on Sylvain’s face. _ ‘Why do you look like that? Please smile…’ _

“Sheesh! Men, these days! All about caring out the family name and blah blah!” Chloe smiled, her hands were on the shoulders of two kids. _ Twins _. “These are my precious babies! Eirika and Gabriel!”

“Mom...it’s Erik,” one said, hair short and black and eyes golden as it nudged its mother.

“Ah yes! I’m sorry, my love. Mama promises to get used to it, okay?” She smiled and leaned down to kiss both of her _ sons _ on the cheek _ . _

Gabriel had curly black hair as well, except his were almost shoulder length and the curls of his bangs covered his entire forehead. Erik, on the other hand, look almost identical except for the shorter hair length and the glasses over his gentle face.

Sylvain moved away and finally, a gentle smile took his features as he kneeled down in front of the two, “Ah! You two are absolutely adorable. I’m Sylvain, your undeniably handsome cousin,” he chuckled, and the two in front of him giggled, rolling their eyes as they hugged him.

The scene alone made Felix soften up as he watched the three _ already _ chatting like there was no tomorrow. The twins were both 10 years old, with Gabriel bragging that he was born a whole _ three _ seconds before the other. 

Bella seemed to be the youngest sibling out of Seth and Chloe, and she was also much quieter in nature than Chloe. She, on the other hand was holding a toddler in her arms and the hand of a young girl on her right.

“Mama...is he a prince?” The little girl tugged on her mother’s sleeve, pointing to Felix curiously. 

Both Sylvain and Felix looked at her, and Sylvain laughed, kneeling in front of her this time, “Does he look like a prince?” Sylvain tilt his head, patting the girls head, “What’s your name little princess?”

The little girl nodded at the first question and then looked Sylvain, trying to stop getting distracted from the ‘prince’ in the room. “J-Julia,” she mumbled shyly and then pointed up at her younger brother, “T-that’s Glenn!” 

Felix’s eyes cast downward at the mention of the name. However, trying to hide it, he smiled and looked at the two, “How old are they?” he decided to ask, but before Bella could answer, the little girl jumped excitedly.

“I’m five! He’s three!” she giggled, swaying shyly as she looked at Felix, tan cheeks flushed pink and she quickly hid behind her mother when she noticed Felix was looking back at her.

She had the bright red hair that ran in the family, while her brother seemed to have brown hair, and as Felix remembered, that was the hair color of the boy’s father. “Ah, looks like you have a little admirer, Prince Felix.” Sylvain chuckled standing up and hugging his aunts one more time.

The little girl gasped at the mention of a prince and quickly ran in front of him, “C-Can I marry you, Prince F-Felix?” she looked at him with expectant eyes and Felix held back a smile. 

“Perhaps when you’re older,” Felix grinned and kneeled down in front of her.

“Hey! This is my prince, you find your own, missy,” Sylvain was pouting and he kneeled next to Felix tugging the male closer.

“Shut up! H-he’s waiting for me to get older!” Julia had a big pout on her face as well and she stuck her tongue to Sylvain, who gasped in shock.

“Now now, Julia. Is that how you behave in front of a prince?” Bella was smiling down, her red hair clipped back in a nice braid. 

Julia was shaking her head and she walked to the twins. The three then started to talk about whatever kids talk about, and then ran upstairs, deciding to explore the house. Bella held onto her son gently before setting him down, and the boy was much shyer than his sister because he instantly hugged his mom’s legs.

Chloe shouted for the kids not to touch too many things before turning to Sylvain and Felix, “How lovely! I finally have time to gush at the two of you without idiot men adding commentary,” she smirked, inching closer and nudging Sylvain, “How did someone like _ him _ fall for _ you. _ I’ve heard stories about you growing up and you do _ not _ seem eligible to settle down with someone,” when Chloe said that both Teressa and Bella giggled, nodding their heads.

“You ladies are so mean, this is why I went for a _ man _!”

“They’re right, Sylvain. I still question myself,” Felix smirked, raising his eyebrows when Sylvain turned his head to him in disbelief. “What?” The raven was now chuckling and the women laughed.

“You _ wound _ me, Lixie. I knew I should have boned Dimitri before Claude came alo-” 

“Sylvain!” Teressa laughed and smacked the back of her son’s head, causing the said boy to flinch and cry in pain.

“So I’m _ not _ the only one who does that, huh?” Felix was smiling way more than he’d like to admit, but it looked like _ this _ part of Sylvain’s family was just a bunch of happy viruses. It was getting hard to hold back all the chuckles and smiles.

“Speaking of Dimitri, how are he and Ingrid? I haven’t seen them ever since you all went off to university together!” Teressa exclaimed, smiling fondly as if she were remembering some memories.

Sylvain hummed and wrapped an arm around Felix’s waist, simply resting his hand on the man’s side. Felix had flinched a bit at the initial contact, but he hid it behind a small cough and covered his face to hide the blush. “Dima is fine! Got himself some handsome foreigner,” Sylvain smiled and then proceeded to talk, “Ingrid is as studious as ever. Always overachieving that she doesn’t even realize there’s a boy crushing on her.” 

“Ah, for some reason I expected Dimitri to go for a foreigner. That boy was always so warm and accepting,” Sylvain’s mother still had a fond smile on her face as she then said, “As for Ingrid… I expected as much too. She’s always working hard. Do tell her to relax from time to time, though!” Teressa scolded, and Sylvain nodded.

“If I may ask, how did the two of you meet?” Bella finally spoke, smiling as a mother would. 

_ ‘Ah, there is that question.’ _ Sylvain thought to himself before telling them the exact truth of how they met, “Well, at first we met when I walked inside my new dorm and saw this grumpy looking man checking out the room,” Sylvain grinned and pinched Felix’s cheek, who only moved his head away and smacked his hand. “As I said, Felix is a literal cat. Anyway, he didn’t look too pleased to see me walk in but you know me, being the handsome and chatty individual-”

“He kidnapped me here and forced me to be his boyfriend,” Felix joked and Sylvain’s eyes widened.

The three women laughed and waited for Sylvain to speak again.

“He’s so mean to me yet somehow that just makes me love him more.” Sylvain cooed at Felix and then sighed dramatically, “As I was saying before I was rudely accused of kidnap, he spent the entire first semester of freshman year avoiding me like the plague. However, one day-”

“Sylvain…” Felix warned.

“Let me speak! One day, he walked in on my showering and well...I _ suppose _ he saw something he _ liked _ and well-” 

This time it was Felix who smacked his head to shut him up, and Teressa did a thumbs up of approval.

“He took me to a park and we bonded _ somehow _ . I realized that he wasn’t as stupid as I thought and well...I started to develop feelings for him,” Felix decided to speak, and quite truthfully too. While he didn’t know what to call this sort of...infatuation he had for Sylvain, that was the day he realized that Sylvain was a lot more than a walking womanizer. Because the way he had played with those kids, the way he had told him about wanting to be friends, or how the gentle breeze had made him even more _ ethereal- _

“Ah yes! I dragged him to a park ‘cause he was always locked up in his room. But while I’m ashamed to admit...It took me longer to realize these feelings I had. I only realized when I couldn’t bear having Felix hate me again. I kept thinking about what I would do if he ignored me...how it would be if he wasn’t so stubborn and somehow ended up being my...lover,” Sylvain was trailing off and Felix couldn’t help but notice the slight trembling his lips did.

Chloe and Bella were clutching each other’s hands in awe and Teressa was feeling all soft and mushy. 

Yet Felix was in pain. How did Sylvain lie so naturally? How did he sound so sincere when those words...probably meant nothing to him? It was all too much and Felix gulped, trying to hold back any sort of tears from spilling.

“Lix?” Sylvain grabbed his attention and the two met with knowing looks. Sylvain was smiling _ way _ too fondly, and Felix swore he was actually going to cry if his heart kept being stabbed by an imaginary sword. 

However, he was taken aback when Sylvain leaned his head down and nuzzled his nose against his before pecking his lips. The raven’s breath hitched and he moved away shyly, heart sending all sorts of tingling signals throughout his body.

“How sweet!” Teressa was giggling and then grabbed the hands of Chloe and Bella, “We’re going to go out grocery shopping with the kids, the men shouldn’t bother you, but please show Felix around the neighborhood!” she said and leaned in to kiss Sylvain’s cheeks before doing the same to Felix and dragging the ladies along. 

Once they called the kids they all ran downstairs, almost trampling over baby Glenn who clung onto his mother, “Mama, mama!” Erik was smiling excitedly as he opened his mouth and pointed at his tooth, “my last baby tooth just fell! Am I a grown up now?” He was giggling and looking up at Chloe.

“It’ll take more than a few teeth to grow into an adult, my baby!” She giggled and kissed his head, “But now that you’re a step closer, I think we should get you something to celebrate, hm?” Their voices started to fade as they made their way to the exit.

Once they were all gone, Felix groaned and sat on the couch by the staircase, letting out the longest exhale, “This...is like ten Sylvains in one house,” he chuckled and closed his eyes, head thrown against the couch headrest. 

“You did great, Felix,” Sylvain grinned and sat on the other end of the couch, slumping down and resting his head on Felix’s lap, “let me lay here for just a while. My heart is going crazy…” the redhead looked up at Felix’s handsome face and smiled, making a kissy face at him, “You’re adorable when you interact with people.”

“Shut up, you’re heavy.” Felix blushed, looking away from Sylvain and resting his hands to the side, resisting every urge to run his hands through the other’s hair. 

“Yeah…” Sylvain was still looking up at Felix, and he smiled fondly at the flush that brightened up the pale color of his cheeks. He took note that his eyes were slightly dented upwards in an almond shape...perhaps of Asian descent? Either way they were beautiful, and the auburn color contrasted with his black hair nicely. Sylvain took his own hand and poked Felix’s warm cheek, causing the other to tense and look down at him. “Sorry, I wanted to see if your cheeks were soft in contrast to your jawline,” Sylvain made a random excuse, when in reality he just felt himself being distracted and wanting to touch Felix.

“You’re beyond an idiot,” Felix was blushing more now and he used his own index finger to poke Sylvain’s cheek, finger lingering there slightly longer than he intended to.

The two stared at each other’s eyes, wondering if there was something unsaid between them. Was it guilt? The guilt that this whole thing was a lie? Or… did Sylvain want to tell Felix not to enjoy this too much? That after they went back home they’d have to tell sweet Teressa that they didn’t work out? That opposites don't attract afterall? 

“Lix-” 

“Don’t…” Felix was afraid of what Sylvain was going to say next so he closed his eyes and gulped, hands shaking slightly, “just be quiet, please.” He didn’t mean to plead and he definitely felt vulnerable now. He tensed again when he felt Sylvain shift into a seating position.

“Hey, open your eyes,” Sylvain’s gentle voice was barely a whisper, and Felix shook his head, nails now digging into his fist. “Felix…” he felt Sylvain’s breath draw closer and his own breath hitched, eyes shutting even tighter.

“Sylvain, don’t-” he was cut off by the ringing of a phone, and his eyes opened to see a blushing Sylvain just inches from his face.

“Oops, I forgot to answer Claude’s text,” Sylvain giggled and moved away, allowing Felix to _ finally _ breathe. 

_ “Yo, homeboy!” _ Claude’s cheery voice was heard over the voice the second Sylvain picked up the phone, _ “How’s it going over there? Dims was refusing to give me hea-” _

_ “Claude!” _The harsh tone of Dimitri cut off the other, who was now a laughing mess.

_ “Anyway, Dimitri was refusing to give this poor soul any action unless I called you,” _Claude still said what he wanted, and a soft smack was heard.

“Dimitri, how could you! You don’t refuse little Claude Jr.-”

“Sylvain.” This time it was Felix’s voice that cut off that _ sinful _ mouth of Sylvain’s.

“Ah, what I meant to say before my wife interrupted me, why didn’t he just call himself?” Sylvain winked at Felix when the other made a silent threat.

_ “He’s getting his phone repaired ‘cause I accidentally smacked it out of his hands when I tackled him… so yeah,” _ Claude was laughing innocently before continuing, _ “What’s up, bro? Is the fam okay?” _ he then genuinely asked and a sigh of relief was heard from Dimitri.

“My ma is all good, and my cousins are absolutely adorable. Well...apart from the one that wants to marry Felix,” Sylvain was pouting and Felix rolled his eyes.

_ “Oh shit you got competition!” _Claude was laughing and soft giggles from Dimitri could be heard as well. 

“Doubt it but suuuure,” the sarcasm in Sylvain’s voice was too childish, and Felix found himself hiding a smile. “My aunt Chloe is as chatty as ever, and they all love Felix. Now as for my father...well you know him, asking about the family Felix is from and such,” Sylvain sighed and a shuffle could be heard from the other end of the line, “Are y’all trying to get it on while I’m telling you about my tragic life?!” Sylvain was cracking up and Felix snickered.

_ “No, of course not, my dude! I did however, try to give Dims a smooch but he denied me ‘cause I guess he’s not much of an exhibisionist,” _ Claude’s voice turned serious when Dimitri simply said his name in a serious tone, _ “That sucks though, is your dad really that into you getting married off to a rich folk?” _

_ “What about Miklan, Sylvain?” _This time Dimitri asked a question too, and Sylvain hated the answer to both of those questions.

“Miklan was even worse than Seth. He seriously hates me for no reason,” Sylvain sighed and Felix placed a hand on his shoulder. The redhead turned his face and was met with a gentle smile, before Felix turned his face away. _ Cute. _

_ “Yo, Miklan can just fuck off,” _ Claude’s irritation could be heard until he said, _ “Then again, y’all aren’t really a thing so…” _Both Sylvain and Felix stayed silent for a bit before Sylvain finally spoke,

“I guess...but I'm serious when I say that no matter who I would’ve brought home would disappoint those two. There’s nothing I can do about it.” Sylvain’s voice was growing irritated and he gritted his teeth.

_ “Sylvain, don’t worry. At least now they’ll leave you alone for a while because they know that you are capable of finding your own lover without having your father track down rich women,” _Dimitri’s gentle voice calmed him down a bit. His best friend always knew what to say.

“Yeah yeah, thanks for calling me. Now Dima, go ahead and give Claude his promised head or else-” he was cut off by Dimitri’s yell,

_ “Claude! Stop putting ideas into his head!” _Dimitri sounded angry and Claude was laughing.

_ “I’m not! You could be putting your own ideas into head, if you know what I mean,” _Claude’s voice was playful as he said that, and the wiggle of his eyebrows could be heard over the phone.

_ “Just. Hang. Up.” _ Dimitri was dead serious and Sylvain smiled, _ “and Sylvain, take care of Felix! He doesn’t deserve your bullshit!” _ Dimitri was now scolding him too and hearing him curse meant that he was serious.

_ “Woah, babe. You’re hot when you’re mad,” _ Claude was laughing and another smack could be heard.

“Good luck, Claude. Don’t get your dick bitten off,” and with that, Sylvain hung up and sighed, smiling as he put his phone away.

Felix was silently listening to the conversation, realizing how great it was that Sylvain had close friends like this...that cared about him…

“You need to stop making that little pout of yours with the furrowed eyebrows. It shows that something is off,” Sylvain turned his attention to Felix, and the other simply shrugged.

“Worry about yourself,” Felix simply said, looking at Sylvain’s own furrowed eyebrows. The two were sitting in silence before Felix spoke again, “Are you okay?” he genuinely asked, and when Sylvain didn’t answer, he inched closer and poked his shoulder.

“Hm? Oh! Yes, I’m okay!” Sylvain put up another smile, but Felix just wasn’t having it at this point.

“Right. Sylvain, I know when you’re actually smiling and when you’re just trying to look strong...just indulge in me for a minute or so. I’m not the best at talking, but I can listen,” Felix sighed and looked at the other’s sad, golden eyes.

Sylvain than slumped his head in Felix’s chest and laughed bitterly, “It’s funny how you, out of all people, is my emotional support pillar,” he grinned and closed his eyes, inhaling the warmth that Felix radiated.

Felix frowned and rested a hand on Sylvain’s head, “Come on now, even I can be reasonable at times,” the younger complained softly, listening to Sylvain’s vulnerable laughter.

“It’s only been a day and yet...I’m already breaking down. How pathetic,” Sylvain was bitter in his words, and the grit of his teeth could be heard while he was talking. 

Felix’s hand was gently tracing small circled in Sylvain’s head before he let his entire palm gently pet Sylvain’s hair, “You’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for,” Felix was lost in the feeling of Sylvain’s soft hair, that he didn’t realize he was speaking so fondly of him. “A lot smarter than people say too,” he smiled and leaned down, resting his cheek on Sylvain’s head, “If you have any doubts about yourself as a person, I can only imagine how bad I must be,” Felix laughed, closing his eyes in comfort.

Sylvain’s eyes were wide and he raised his head, causing Felix to rise up as well and look at him in confusion. “Felix...I know I shouldn’t, but…” the male gulped slowly and bit his lip, looking like a kicked puppy, “Can I kiss you?” he finally said, cheeks slightly pink.

Felix blinked at first, not sure if he heard him right. However, all was confirmed when he saw Sylvain’s flushing cheeks. “Y-You...why…” Felix was so lost as he made eye contact with Sylvain, searching for any hint of a joke in his eyes, only to be met with softness and a completely serious face.

“Dunno...what you told me was so cute that I just want to kiss you…” he laughed at himself, watching as Felix’s cheeks were turning an adorable shade of red. “Also...I have no response to what you said...I’m at a loss.”

“Sylvain…” Felix’s lips were quivering and he closed his eyes, not being able to handle the situation. If he looked at Sylvain any longer he would’ve gotten ahead of himself.

Sylvain smiled and leaned in, cupping one of Felix’s cheeks with his hand, the other simply taking Felix’s hand and lacing their fingers, “Are you scared?” He whispered against the other’s lips, holding onto his hand tightly.

“O-Of what, you moron?” Felix bit back, although his voice had no real venom behind it, especially with the way he was stuttering. 

“Of kissing?” Sylvain brushed his lips against Felix’s softly, and watched as Felix shut his eyes tighter and shook his head.

“A-Are you stupid?” Felix took his unoccupied hand and latched it onto Sylvain’s shirt, tugging on it tightly, “_ God… _”

_ ‘You’re way too cute for your own good…’ _ Was Sylvain’s unspoken sentence before he tilted his head and capture Felix’s lips in an unsure kiss. It was a sweet gesture, something they both needed it seemed, especially from the way Felix clung to him and actually returned the kiss.

Their lips moved in unison, enjoying the warmth and comfort they provided for one another. _ Kissing was nice _ . Felix didn’t hate it...however, his heart wouldn’t allow him to enjoy it too much. Because while Sylvain stroked his cheek with love and held onto his hand with promise, he reminded himself that this was _ fake _. Sylvain was just feeling sad, he was insecure, he didn’t know what to say; so his only way of comfort came from Felix. 

So what if he kissed him so gently? So what if he moved his body closer as if Felix’s warmth was making him feel safe? Sylvain just needed emotional support, he’d do this with any woman that sat with him and said the same. He’d do even_ more _ with a woman who comforted him. So then, why couldn’t Felix help but allow Sylvain to do as he wanted?

“Felix?” _ Oh. When had he pulled away? _ “Felix, why are you crying?” Sylvain let go of his hand and cupped his other cheek, looking at him so tenderly.

_ ‘I am?’ _ Felix thought to himself as he opened his eyes, noticing that his vision was blurry, and his cheeks were indeed wet. Felix blinked away some tears and mentally slapped himself for being so pathetic. 

“Felix, hey, I’m sorry...is this too much?” Sylvain’s eyes were sad and his eyebrows were furrowed downward in worry.

Felix simply shook his head, because, what else was he supposed to do? Tell him that his heart didn’t allow him to enjoy anything?

Sylvain sighed and pulled him into a hug, holding him tighter than he ever had before, “I never know what you’re thinking...but whenever you make that sad face, I can’t help but want to hold you close and allow no one to harm you. Ever again.” Sylvain mumbled in his hair and kissed the spot there softly.

Felix simply froze into the hug and clutched his hands to the side. “Why are you so nice to me?” He found himself asking, sniffling softly as he slowly became angry at his tears for spilling like this. “I’m always so rude, sarcastic, and neglectant on how you’re feeling...I never even acted like a real friend towards you…”

Sylvain then laughed quietly into the other’s hair and pulled away, resting his hands on Felix’s shoulder as he looked at him in the eyes, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” he grinned and poked Felix’s nose, “You care in your own way, whether you notice or not. Nobody would watch me be a mess and then tuck me in and wake me up with hot cocoa except for you.” Sylvain’s smile never left his face as he spoke, “and nobody would be rude enough to me to show me that what I’m doing is wrong. So let’s just say I need someone like you in my life,” Sylvain’s face turned serious as he looked down, eyebrows furrowing in a questioning motion.

“...” Felix was speechless and his eyes were watery, but he finally managed to move his hand, and with it, he grabbed one of Sylvain’s and held tightly.

No words needed to be said for Sylvain to understand that Felix did need him too. And that’s what made him feel his heart let out a sudden loud thump. Sylvain’s eyes widened and his brain was processing everything at a thousand miles per second. _ ‘Huh…what is that supposed to mean?’ _He smiled to himself, shaking any ideas out of his head. 

They stayed like that for a little while, listening to the beating of each other’s hearts before Felix decided that he couldn’t handle it anymore, “Show me around,” he simply said, finally creating distance between them and standing up. 

“Huh? Oh, you mean the neighborhood?” Sylvain smiled and stood up as well.

“_ No _, I mean your secret sex dungeon.” Felix glared and shook his head, “Of course the neighborhood, dumbass.” The usual Felix was back, yet his eyes were still slightly red and his voice was much more gentle.

“I can show you _ both _,” Sylvain winked, wiggling his eyebrows and tilting his head playfully.

“...You have a sex dungeon?” Felix’s eyes were wide and Sylvain couldn’t help but laugh hysterically. He fell back on the couch and watched as Felix stared at him dumbfounded. 

“O-Oh!” Sylvain was still laughing, “You’re so gullible sometimes!” He wiped away a tear and exhaled loudly when he felt Felix tackle him.

Felix towered on top of him with a glare, taking his hands and pinching Sylvain’s sides, “Don’t you dare fucking laugh at me or else I’ll give you a real reason to laugh,” he then inched his hands higher and started to tickle Sylvain, causing the male underneath to laugh yet again.

“Nononono! G-Get off! Hahaha!” Sylvain’s laughter filled the room and Felix was letting out some soft giggles as well, enjoying how Sylvain squirmed around.

“Not until you tell me if you have a sex dungeon or not,” Felix grinned and went back to tickling his sides, causing Sylvain to arch his back and squirm some more.

“I-I d-don’t! F-Felix hahaha! P-Please!” Sylvain might have underestimated Felix’s muscle because that boy was hard to trample over. 

Sitting up in satisfaction, Felix smirked as he looked down at Sylvain, “That’s what I thought, beg to the all mighty Felix, you peasant.” Felix chuckled, knowing that it was quite the opposite.

Sylvain raised his eyebrows and raised his upper half, leaning on his elbows for support, “Felix...I didn’t know you were so _ naughty _,” it was Sylvain’s turn to smirk when Felix’s eyes widened and his face turned beet red.

“Y-You are so disgust-” his words of protest were cut off when Sylvain gently pushed him down on the couch and towered over him.

“You’re _ too _ pure,” Sylvain grinned and started to tickle him back, and as much as Felix wanted to hold back his laughter, his lungs betrayed him and the sweet noise filled the room.

“F-Fuck o-off! I’m-I’m going to kill you in your s-sleep!” he threatened between laughter, shaking around to get out of Sylvain's grip.

Felix’s laughter was beautiful and Sylvain had unintentionally stopped just to listen to it. 

“What kind of cheap porn did I walk in on?” the two turned their heads as the sound of a gruff voice suddenly filled the room.

“Miklan.” Sylvain frowned and glared at his brother.

Felix was awkwardly trapped underneath Sylvain as the tension in the room rose.

“Tch, find a private room. I don’t want to see your boyfriend’s dick in your mouth,” he rolled his eyes and Sylvain was gritting his teeth.

“I wouldn’t have _ you _ see _ him _ in anyway because you barely deserve to see him like this,” Sylvain’s eyes were angry and his tone was...intimidating.

Felix was getting slightly annoyed as well, especially since he didn’t like to see Sylvain angry over such trivial things.

“As _ if _ I want to see him! I can’t even bare myself to deal with the idea that you’re dating someone from the slums.” Miklan spat, and Felix was getting _ really _angry. “Just go back to sucking faces, I don’t want to hear you talk anymore.”

“_ Gladly _,” Felix almost growled before wrapping his arms around Sylvain’s neck and tugging him down into a kiss, bodies pressed completely flush against one another.

Eyes widening in shock, Sylvain suddenly forgot all about Miklan and returned the kiss. He glanced at Miklan from the corner of his eye and smirked into the kiss. He then opened mouth and licked over Felix’s lips, to which Felix completely froze from because, _ huh? _

“Disgusting.” Miklan walked off but the two didn’t pull away. Felix was too stunned on the way Sylvain was now biting on his bottom lip, tugging on it between his teeth. 

When he gasped in shock, Sylvain took the initiative to shove his tongue into the other’s mouth, exploring the unfamiliar territory with it. 

Felix allowed for Sylvain to completely take over, too lost in the feeling to care about his heart at this point. _ This was different _. It wasn’t like the other kisses. This one was steamy, it made him feel hot, and there were different noises that were made from it. It was as if desperation and anger combined into one and they just relieved it into a kiss.

It was getting _ too _ hot, and Felix was tilting his head as if it would allow Sylvain to devour him deeper. His hips twitched upward unintentionally, and he froze from the sound that came out of his mouth.

_ A moan _ . That’s all it took for Felix to realize he was getting _ too _ into it. His eyes opened wide and he pushed Sylvain off. He used the corner of his hand to wipe the saliva dripping down his chin. “H-H...He’s gone.” Felix gulped, voice sounding too _ whiny _ for his liking.

“Y-yeah...Um, do you still want to look around the neighborhood?” Sylvain asked, and his voice sounded _ way _ too sexy, that Felix quickly stood up.

“Bathroom first.” He then ran upstairs and opened about four doors before finding a bathroom. He quickly ran inside and shut the door behind him, turning the lock and completely collapsing against the door. “The _ fuck _ ,” he mumbled outloud, and this time it wasn’t only his heart that was warm, but his entire _ body _ was in heat. Everywhere where Sylvain’s body pressed against his felt alive and a hellish kind of hot. Gulping to himself, he walked towards the sink and looked at his flushed face. He needed to calm down.

Turning on the sink, Felix washed his face and exhaled heavily, watching the drops fall down his chin. _ Why had that kiss felt so good? _

\---

Sylvain sat on the couch like he had seen a ghost. It took all his willpower to think of the most disgusting thing, and so he thought of Miklan naked. 

Shuddering, the warmth in his body died down, and he instantly felt that desire turn off. Why was Felix affecting him like this? Why did he have no self-control over his stupid desire when he was close to the other? ‘_ Sylvain you sound like a horny teenager.’ _ He laughed to himself and ran a hand through his hair, standing up when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Ah, you ready?” Sylvain smiled and waited for Felix to stand beside him.

“Question, why do you need fifty rooms and only one bathroom?” The raven was frowning as the two made their way to the door.

“There’s _ two _ bathrooms upstairs and each room has its own bathroom. Also...there’s one right by the staircase but you bolted off before I could tell you,” Sylvain grinned, putting on his shoes and waiting for Felix to do the same.

“_ The fuck, _ Sylvain! Sheesh, I’ll never understand rich people,” Felix rolled his eyes and put on his coat, walking out once Sylvain was ready too. It was nice. Going back to their normal banter was a lot better than having to deal with...whatever _ that _ was.

Sylvain simply laughed and stepped outside, inhaling the winter air and motioning for Felix to follow him.

The rest of the afternoon went by silently. They looked around the neighborhood, met Dimitri’s _ weirdly attractive _ father, who welcomed them warmly and some of the elderly who all seemed very fond of Sylvain. 

The redhead explained the importance of some spots in the neighborhood that meant a lot to him. Like that giant tree by Ingrid’s house that had the initials ‘S+I+D’ carved into it. He said it was where they had their little ‘detective’ meetings. He also showed the fence that was cracked on the corner because apparently Dimitri was _ stupidly _ strong and ran into it when they were playing tag. The blonde had been uninjured while the fence suffered that crack that was still there.

Sylvain was smiling fondly as he also explained about the ice cream truck that would always stop by and the three would instantly run out. He explained all his memories with a smile, and Felix found himself simply listening and staring at Sylvain’s soft expression. 

The two continued walking until Felix let out a quiet sneeze. 

“Felix! Sheesh let’s head back. I don’t want you catching a cold,” Sylvain frowned and took off his scarf, stopping in his tracks and tugging Felix, wrapping the scarf around him. “Only a jacket won’t keep you warm enough!” he scolded, and Felix simply looked down.

“What about you, idiot?” Felix was blushing, but he’d make sure to blame it on the chilly air. 

“I haven’t gotten sick ever since I was like ten! My immune system is amazing,” Sylvain laughed and started making his way back now.

Felix’s eyes were getting blurry from the tears that appeared because of the wind, and he placed a hand over the scarf. _ ‘It smells like him,’ _ Felix thought, inhaling it softly as he looked at Sylvain, who was now silently walking ahead, hands in his pocket. 

He clutched onto the scarf and let out another soft sneeze, causing Sylvain to gasp dramatically and move closer to Felix. “Don’t make me worry too much, Lix.” he smiled and wrapped an arm around him, bringing him close as if to share body heat.

“Shut up,” Felix mumbled, not moving away from the heat because it felt _ so nice. _

As they approached the house again, Sylvain smiled as he saw a car pulling in the parking area. “Looks like they’re home,” he smiled and rubbed Felix’s shoulder gently.

Felix made a small sound of approval and hid a smile behind the scarf when he saw the kids run out of the car in excitement, quickly getting scolded by their mothers. 

Sylvain and Felix walked closer and Teressa quickly waved them over, “Hey you two! Help us move some groceries in!” 

Moving away from Felix, Sylvain smiled and walked towards the trunk of the car, “Finally! I’m starving!” he laughed.

Felix followed him and instantly wished he was feeling his warmth again.

“Yeah yeah! You could’ve went out and ate with Felix,” Chloe teased, and Sylvain turned to her in disbelief.

“I’m a college student and my parents refuse to help me pay for tuition! So I’d like to save money, thank you very much!” Sylvain dramatically complained as he held two grocery bags on each hand.

Felix rolled his eyes and held onto a bag full of baguettes. He grinned and looked at them, _ ‘how fitting.’ _ He thought to himself. 

“You complain too much! You know your father and I would love to help but you refused to accept even a single penny,” Teressa exposed, sassily picking up her own bags.

“Oops, maybe!” And with that Sylvain turned to look at Felix and grin, earning another roll of the eyes for the raven.

While this was only temporary, Felix could get used to the idea of a warm family...and someone who cared for him. Shaking his head, Felix smiled and followed the rest inside the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was very tempted to make the twins named Eirika and Ephraim but uh, I made Eirika trans because he started to remind me of a trans friend I have while I was writing this dhsidhas
> 
> I also started writing Ferdinand/Hubert and Caspar/Linhardt fics so if you'd like to see any of them first, let me know! They're just one shots and I'm working on them at the same time, so I'll post those eventually hsdadsj
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, your comments are all so sweet and I just love that people are invested in this just as I enjoy writing it.
> 
> Imma shut up now... hdihadsa I got something soft (or hard it depends on how I'm feeling) planned for next chapter tho! Stay tuned B)


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